Unlocking the Thermal Efficiency of Irregular Open-Cell Metal Foams: A Computational Exploration of Flow Dynamics and Heat Transfer Phenomena

Abstract

An open-cell metal foam has excellent characteristics such as low density, high porosity, high specific surface area, high thermal conductivity, and low mass due to its unique internal three-dimensional network structure. It has gradually become a new material for enhanced heat transfer in industrial equipment, new compact heat exchangers, microelectronic device cooling, etc. This research established a comprehensive three-dimensional structural model of open-cell metal foams utilizing Laguerre–Voronoi tessellations and employed computational fluid dynamics to investigate its flow dynamics and coupled heat transfer performance. By exploring the impact of foam microstructure on flow resistance and heat transfer characteristics, the study provided insights into the overall convective heat transfer performance across a range of foam configurations with varying pore densities and porosities. The findings revealed a direct correlation between convective heat transfer coefficient (h) and pressure drop (ΔP) with increasing Reynolds number (Re), accompanied by notable changes in fluid turbulence kinetic energy (e) and temperature (T), ultimately influencing heat transfer efficiency. Furthermore, the analysis demonstrated that alterations in porosity (ε) and pore density significantly affected unit pressure drop (ΔP/L) and convective heat transfer coefficient (h). This study identified an optimal configuration, highlighting a metal foam with a pore density of 20 PPI and a porosity of 95% as exhibiting superior overall convective heat transfer performance.

Numerical Study of Fluid Flow in a Gyroid-Shaped Heat Transfer Element

“…A larger heat exchange area allows heat to be transferred between hot and cold media over a larger surface area; also, the parameter of the surface area enters the calculation of thermal resistance, a reduction of which will increase the total heat flux transferred through the surface area, as described by Mousa et al [8], Kanojiya et al [9], and Leal et al [10]. The enlargement is mainly done by modifying the geometrical parameters in the form of introducing different forms of fins, plates, and slotting [11,12] or by introducing a porous heat-conducting element [13,14], for example, in the form of a three-dimensional lattice, honeycomb structure, or metal foam [15][16][17][18]. The presented paper focuses on the evaluation of the possibility of using the concept of a three-dimensional element increasing the heat exchange surface of heat exchangers, heat accumulators, heat sinks, etc.…”