EXPERIMENTAL FULLY-DEVELOPED THERMAL CONVECTION FOR NON-DARCY WATER FLOW IN METAL FOAM

Experimental heat transfer data for water flow in commercial open-cell aluminum foam cylinder heated at the wall by a constant heat flux, is presented. The foam had 20 pores per inch (ppi) and a porosity of 87%. The measurements included wall temperature along flow direction as well as average inlet and outlet temperatures of the water. Flow speeds were in the non-Darcy regimes (transitional and Forchheimer). Heat fluxes were 14,998 Wm(2) and 26,347 Wm(.)(2) The behavior of the wall temperature clearly shows thermal fully-developed conditions. The experimental Nusselt number is presented as a function of axial distance in flow direction, and showed what seemed to be a periodic development. A correlation for the average Nusselt number as a function of flow Reynolds number is provided. The experimental data can be used for validation of other analytical solutions, numerical models and heat-exchange engineering designs based on metal foam.