Heat Transfer Enhancement in Metal Foam Systems

Metal foams, characterised by their open-cell architectures and high specific surface areas, have emerged as versatile media for augmenting thermal transport in a variety of engineering applications. Their interconnected network of ligaments and pores promotes intensified fluid–solid interaction, combining enhanced convective mixing with solid conduction. By adjusting morphological parameters such as porosity and pore density (PPI), researchers can tailor pressure drop and heat transfer coefficients to specific operational requirements. Key mechanisms include disruption of thermal boundary layers, promotion of turbulence at moderate Reynolds numbers, and exploitation of local thermal non-equilibrium between solid matrix and fluid. Experimental techniques, from micro-tomographic characterisation to bespoke flow rigs, are increasingly complemented by computational fluid dynamics under Darcy–Forchheimer and two-equation models. These approaches yield design guidelines for fuel-cell cooling, compact heat exchangers and electronics thermal management, while trade-off analyses emphasise the balance between heat-transfer gains and pumping power penalties. Recent advances also explore graded foam distributions, hybrid wire-mesh integrations and brazed interfaces to further refine performance and manufacturability.

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Heat Transfer Enhancement in Metal Foam Systems publication trend

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Technical terms

Open-cell metal foam: A porous metallic structure featuring interconnectivity between voids, enabling fluid flow and heat exchange throughout the matrix.

Porosity (φ): The ratio of void volume to total volume in a porous medium, governing permeability and effective thermal conductivity.

Pores per inch (PPI): A measure of the number of pores in one linear inch of foam, indicative of pore size and specific surface area.

Local thermal non-equilibrium (LTNE) model: A two-equation approach that treats solid and fluid phases with separate energy equations, capturing temperature differences within the porous medium.

Darcy–Forchheimer model: A flow description in porous media that combines linear (Darcy) and nonlinear (inertial) terms to account for pressure drops at moderate to high velocities.

Nusselt number (Nu): A dimensionless parameter expressing the ratio of convective to conductive heat transfer across a fluid–solid boundary.

Reynolds number (Re): A dimensionless quantity quantifying the relative influence of inertial versus viscous forces in fluid flow, often based on hydraulic diameter within porous media.

Pressure drop (Δp): The loss of fluid pressure due to friction and form drag as it traverses a porous structure, directly affecting pumping requirements.

References

1. How to Study Thermal Applications of Open-Cell Metal Foam: Experiments and Computational Fluid Dynamics. Materials (2016).
2. Mono- and Multi-Objective CFD Optimization of Graded Foam-Filled Channels. Materials (2022).
3. Correlations and Numerical Modeling of Stacked Woven Wire-Mesh Porous Media for Heat Exchange Applications. Energies (2022).
4. Cooling Design for PEM Fuel-Cell Stacks Employing Air and Metal Foam: Simulation and Experiment. Energies (2021).
5. Investigation on Strength and Microstructural Evolution of Porous Cu/Cu Brazed Joints Using Cu-Ni-Sn-P Filler. Metals (2020).