Because of their interesting heat transfer and mechanical properties, metal foams have been proposed for several different applications, thermal and structural. This paper aims at pointing out the effective thermal fluid dynamic behavior of these new enhanced surfaces, which present high heat transfer area per unit of volume at the expense of high pressure drop. The paper presents the experimental heat transfer and pressure drop measurements relative to air flowing in forced convection through four different aluminum foams, when electrically heated. The tested aluminum foams present 5, 10, 20 and 40 PPI (pores per inch), porosity around 0.92–0.93, and 0.02 m of foam core height. The experimental heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops have been obtained by varying the air mass flow rate and the electrical power, which has been set at , , and . The results have been compared against those measured for 40 mm high samples, in order to study the effects of the foam core height on the heat transfer. Moreover, predictions from two recent models are compared with heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop experimental data. The predictions are in good agreement with experimental data.
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e-mail: simone.mancin@unipd.it
e-mail: claudio.zilio@unipd.it
e-mail: luisa.rossetto@unipd.it
e-mail: alcav@unipd.it
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Thermal Issues In Emerging Technologies
Heat Transfer Performance of Aluminum Foams
Simone Mancin,
Simone Mancin
Dipartimento di Fisica Tecnica,
e-mail: simone.mancin@unipd.it
Università di Padova
, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
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Claudio Zilio,
Claudio Zilio
Dipartimento di Fisica Tecnica,
e-mail: claudio.zilio@unipd.it
Università di Padova
, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
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Luisa Rossetto,
Luisa Rossetto
Dipartimento di Fisica Tecnica,
e-mail: luisa.rossetto@unipd.it
Università di Padova
, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
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Alberto Cavallini
Alberto Cavallini
Dipartimento di Fisica Tecnica,
e-mail: alcav@unipd.it
Università di Padova
, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italy
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Simone Mancin
Dipartimento di Fisica Tecnica,
Università di Padova
, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italye-mail: simone.mancin@unipd.it
Claudio Zilio
Dipartimento di Fisica Tecnica,
Università di Padova
, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italye-mail: claudio.zilio@unipd.it
Luisa Rossetto
Dipartimento di Fisica Tecnica,
Università di Padova
, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italye-mail: luisa.rossetto@unipd.it
Alberto Cavallini
Dipartimento di Fisica Tecnica,
Università di Padova
, Via Venezia 1, 35131 Padova, Italye-mail: alcav@unipd.it
J. Heat Transfer. Jun 2011, 133(6): 060904 (9 pages)
Published Online: March 4, 2011
Article history
Received:
December 15, 2009
Revised:
October 27, 2010
Online:
March 4, 2011
Published:
March 4, 2011
Citation
Mancin, S., Zilio, C., Rossetto, L., and Cavallini, A. (March 4, 2011). "Heat Transfer Performance of Aluminum Foams." ASME. J. Heat Transfer. June 2011; 133(6): 060904. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4003451
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