To investigate the feasibility of the use of foams with an interconnected spherical pore structure in heat transfer applications, models for heat transfer and pressure drop for this type of porous materials are developed. Numerical simulations are carried out for laminar multidirectional thermofluid flow in an idealized pore geometry of foams with a wide range of geometry parameters. Semiheuristic models for pressure drop and heat transfer are developed from the results of simulations. A simplified solid-body drag equation with an extended high inertia term is used to develop the hydraulic model. A heat transfer model with a nonzero asymptotic term for very low Reynolds numbers is also developed. To provide hydraulic and heat transfer models suitable for a wide range of porosity, only a general form of the length-scale as a function of pore structure is defined a priori, where the parameters of the function were determined as part of the modeling process. The proposed ideal models are compared to the available experimental results, and the source of differences between experimental results and the ideal models is recognized and then calibrated for real graphitic foam. The thermal model is used together with volume-averaged energy equations to calculate the thermal dispersion in graphitic foam. The results of the calculations show that the linear models for thermal dispersion available in literature are oversimplified for predicting thermal dispersion in this type of porous material.
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e-mail: karimian@gwu.edu
e-mail: astraatman@eng.uwo.ca
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Numerical Modeling of Multidirectional Flow and Heat Transfer in Graphitic Foams
S. A. Mohsen Karimian,
S. A. Mohsen Karimian
Postdoctoral Scientist
Mem. ASME
Flow Simulation and Analysis Group,
e-mail: karimian@gwu.edu
George Washington University
, Washington, DC 20052
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Anthony G. Straatman
Anthony G. Straatman
Assoc. Professor
Mem. ASME
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering,
e-mail: astraatman@eng.uwo.ca
The University of Western Ontario
, London, ON, N6A 5B9, Canada
Search for other works by this author on:
S. A. Mohsen Karimian
Postdoctoral Scientist
Mem. ASME
Flow Simulation and Analysis Group,
George Washington University
, Washington, DC 20052e-mail: karimian@gwu.edu
Anthony G. Straatman
Assoc. Professor
Mem. ASME
Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering,
The University of Western Ontario
, London, ON, N6A 5B9, Canadae-mail: astraatman@eng.uwo.ca
J. Heat Transfer. May 2009, 131(5): 052602 (11 pages)
Published Online: March 18, 2009
Article history
Received:
December 7, 2007
Revised:
December 4, 2008
Published:
March 18, 2009
Citation
Karimian, S. A. M., and Straatman, A. G. (March 18, 2009). "Numerical Modeling of Multidirectional Flow and Heat Transfer in Graphitic Foams." ASME. J. Heat Transfer. May 2009; 131(5): 052602. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3084122
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