CFD simulation of heat transfer and fluid flow within metallic foam in forced convection environment

In the present study, a CFD simulation of forced convection in a rectangular block of aluminum foam is investigated. A two energy equations model with the Brinkman-Forchheimer extended Darcy model is considered in the CFD investigation. The governing equations are solved using COMSOL, a commercial multiphysics finite-element PDE solver. Three types of aluminum foam 10-, 20-, 40- pore per inch with different porosity are studied. A parametric study for the range of Reynolds number Re = 250-2000 and the imposed heat flux qw = 0:8−1:6 (W/cm2) is carried out to examine the thermal and the fluid flow behaviors of the aluminum foams. It is found that the plug flow conditions are prevalence for the aluminum foams. The 40-pore per inch aluminum foam has a better heat transfer performance with a larger pressure drop, followed by the 20-, and then by the 10- pore per inch. The validation of the simulation results is made against experimental data from the literature and showed a perfect agreement.