Because of their light weight, open porosity, high surface area per unit volume, and thermal characteristics, metal foams are a promising material for many industrial applications involving fluid flow and heat transfer. The pressure drop and heat transfer in porous media have inspired a number of experimental and numerical studies, and many models have been proposed in the literature that correlate the pressure gradient and the heat transfer coefficient with the mean cell size and porosity. However, large differences exist among results predicted by different models, and most studies are based on idealized periodic cell structures. In this study, the true three-dimensional microstructure of the metal foam is obtained by employing x-ray computed microtomography (XCT). This is the “real” structure. For comparison, ideal Kelvin foam structures are developed in the free-to-use software “surface evolver” surface energy minimization program. These are “ideal” structures. Pressure drop and heat transfer are then investigated in each structure using the CFD module of COMSOL® Multiphysics code. A comparison between the numerical predictions from the real and ideal geometries is carried out. The predictions showed that heat transfer characteristics are very close for low values of Reynolds number, but larger Reynolds numbers create larger differences between the results of the ideal and real structures. Conversely, the differences in pressure drop at any Reynolds number are nearly 100%. Results from the models are then validated by comparing them with experimental results taken from the literature. The validation suggests that the ideal structure poorly predicts the heat transfer and pressure drops.
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November 2014
This article was originally published in
Journal of Heat Transfer
Research-Article
Numerical Analysis of Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop in Metal Foams for Different Morphological Models
Marcello Iasiello,
Marcello Iasiello
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale,
e-mail: marcello.iasiello@unina.it
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
,P.le Tecchio 80
,Napoli 80125
, Italy
e-mail: marcello.iasiello@unina.it
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Salvatore Cunsolo,
Salvatore Cunsolo
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale,
e-mail: sal.cuns@gmail.com
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
,P.le Tecchio 80
,Napoli 80125
, Italy
e-mail: sal.cuns@gmail.com
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Maria Oliviero,
e-mail: maria.oliviero@unina.it
Maria Oliviero
Istituto per i Polimeri, Compositi e Biomedici
,Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
,P.le Fermi 1
,Portici (Napoli) 80055
, Italy
e-mail: maria.oliviero@unina.it
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William M. Harris,
William M. Harris
Mem. ASME
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: wmasonharris@gmail.com
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Connecticut
,Storrs, CT 06269
e-mail: wmasonharris@gmail.com
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Nicola Bianco,
Nicola Bianco
1
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale,
e-mail: nicola.bianco@unina.it
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
,P.le Tecchio 80
,Napoli 80125
, Italy
e-mail: nicola.bianco@unina.it
1Corresponding author.
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Wilson K. S. Chiu,
Wilson K. S. Chiu
Mem. ASME
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: wchiu@engr.uconn.edu
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Connecticut
,Storrs, CT 06269
e-mail: wchiu@engr.uconn.edu
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Vincenzo Naso
Vincenzo Naso
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale,
e-mail: vincenzo.naso@unina.it
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
,P.le Tecchio 80
,Napoli 80125
, Italy
e-mail: vincenzo.naso@unina.it
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Marcello Iasiello
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale,
e-mail: marcello.iasiello@unina.it
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
,P.le Tecchio 80
,Napoli 80125
, Italy
e-mail: marcello.iasiello@unina.it
Salvatore Cunsolo
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale,
e-mail: sal.cuns@gmail.com
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
,P.le Tecchio 80
,Napoli 80125
, Italy
e-mail: sal.cuns@gmail.com
Maria Oliviero
Istituto per i Polimeri, Compositi e Biomedici
,Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
,P.le Fermi 1
,Portici (Napoli) 80055
, Italy
e-mail: maria.oliviero@unina.it
William M. Harris
Mem. ASME
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: wmasonharris@gmail.com
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Connecticut
,Storrs, CT 06269
e-mail: wmasonharris@gmail.com
Nicola Bianco
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale,
e-mail: nicola.bianco@unina.it
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
,P.le Tecchio 80
,Napoli 80125
, Italy
e-mail: nicola.bianco@unina.it
Wilson K. S. Chiu
Mem. ASME
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
e-mail: wchiu@engr.uconn.edu
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
University of Connecticut
,Storrs, CT 06269
e-mail: wchiu@engr.uconn.edu
Vincenzo Naso
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale,
e-mail: vincenzo.naso@unina.it
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
,P.le Tecchio 80
,Napoli 80125
, Italy
e-mail: vincenzo.naso@unina.it
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF HEAT TRANSFER. Manuscript received December 18, 2013; final manuscript received July 25, 2014; published online August 18, 2014. Assoc. Editor: Andrey Kuznetsov.
J. Heat Transfer. Nov 2014, 136(11): 112601 (10 pages)
Published Online: August 18, 2014
Article history
Received:
December 18, 2013
Revision Received:
July 25, 2014
Citation
Iasiello, M., Cunsolo, S., Oliviero, M., Harris, W. M., Bianco, N., Chiu, W. K. S., and Naso, V. (August 18, 2014). "Numerical Analysis of Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop in Metal Foams for Different Morphological Models." ASME. J. Heat Transfer. November 2014; 136(11): 112601. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4028113
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