Heat transfer measurements in metal foam subjected to constant heat flux

The use of open-cell metal foam in numerous technologies is increasing rapidly. Heat transfer measurements inside rectangular blocks of commercially available aluminum foam subjected to constant heat flux at one side are presented. Cases for different pore velocities, porosities and pore densities of the foam are given. Each foam block is cooled by a confined stream of ambient air. The temperature profile decays in an exponential fashion as the distance from the heat base increases. A two-dimensional, simplified analytical model for the heat transfer in the foam is summarized and adapted from the literature. The model neglects conduction in the fluid and invokes the local thermal equilibrium assumption for the solid and fluid phases in the foam. The model underestimated the temperature close to the foam’s entrance, and predicted the temperatures inside the foam within the experimental uncertainty for most of the data points.