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

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.