Experimental study of natural convection in horizontally-positioned open-celled metal foams

Experimental study of air natural convection in horizontally-positioned copper metallic foams with open cells was conducted. Temperature distributions on the heating surface were tested under different heating power for foam samples having different porosities and pore densities. The effects of porosity and pore density on the total thermal resistance of the foam sample were quantified. It is found that the porous surface can enhance the natural convection and reduce the thermal resistance by about 20% in comparison with a smooth surface. The surface area density and mass flow rate in natural convection are affected by porosity and pore density simultaneously. When the porosity is relative small (ε = 90%), there exits a critical value of the Gr number (turning point) for two pore densities (10ppi and 40ppi). When the Gr number is less than this critical value, the foam with a higher pore density has the lower total thermal resistance, whereas when the Gr number exceeds the turning point value, the opposite holds. If the porosity is increased to ε = 95%, the foam with a higher pore density has the lower thermal resistance in the whole experimental range. When the porosity and pore density is the same, the foam with smaller size has the higher thermal resistance in the whole experimental range. If the size is relatively small (100×100×50mm), for the two pore densities studied (20ppi and 80ppi), there exits a critical value of the Gr number (turning point). The foam with a lower porosity(ε = 90%) has the lower thermal resistance and the decrease is more obvious for the case of 80ppi.If the size is relatively big(100×100×80mm),there exists a critical value of the Gr number (turning point) only for the case of 10ppi. When the Gr number is less than this critical value, the foam with a higher porosity (ε = 95%) has the higher total thermal resistance, the opposite holds. While for the other two pore densities- - (20ppi and 40ppi), there is no turning point. The foam with a higher porosity (ε = 95%) has the higher total thermal resistance in the whole experimental range.