Experimental Study of Free Convection in Open-cell Aluminum Foam

Free convection in air-saturated open-cell aluminum foam was studied experimentally. The influence of pore density, foam height and bonding technologies are examined. For this research, the base plate temperature is varied between 55 °C and 95 °C. The ratio of the sample length-to-width is kept to a fixed value of 10. The investigated foams have a pore density of 10 and 20 PPI (Pores Per linear Inch) with a porosity of 93%. The foam height is varied between 6 and 40 mm. The bonding of the foam is done by either brazing, or by applying a single epoxy.An effect of the bonding methods is observed. The brazed samples showed a higher heat transfer rate in all cases. The influence of the pore density is more pronounced. However, the strongest influence can be attributed to an increase in sample height.