Thermal behavior of open cell aluminum foams in forced air: Experimental analysis

• Published in: Measurement : journal of the International Measurement Confederation 2015-01, Vol.60, p.97-103
• Main Authors: Guarino, Stefano, Rubino, Gianluca, Tagliaferri, Vincenzo, Ucciardello, Nadia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aluminum foam; Convective heat transfer; Open cell; Pressure drops
• ISSN: 0263-2241; 1873-412X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.measurement.2014.09.069

•This paper deals with the study of thermal and properties of the open cell metal foams.•Influence of temperature and air speed on the HTC and Pressure Drop was examined.•A new experimental setup designed ad hoc was used.•The best thermal performance are achieved by the 10PPI foams.•The experimental results demonstrates that an increasing of temperature decreases the HTC. This paper deals with the study of thermal and fluid dynamics properties of the open cell metal foams. A thermo-fluid dynamic analysis of three different types of aluminum alloy foams, 5, 10 and 20 pores per inch (PPI) was carried out by using a novel ad hoc built instrumentation. In particular, it has been investigated the Heat Transfer Coefficient (HTC*) and the Pressure Drop (PD) under a flow of forced humid air. The influence of the main parameters, temperature of the metal foam and speed of humid air, both on the HTC* and on the PD was examined. Design of experiments (DOE) approach was used as support to interpret the experimental findings and the physical phenomena involved in HTC* and in PD, between foams and air. The analysis permitted to detect the effects of the operational parameters, foam pore size, air flux and temperature on the HTC* and on the PD.