Analysis of heat transfer in oscillating flow through a channel filled with metal foam using computational fluid dynamics

A computational fluid dynamics analysis of forced convective heat transfer has been conducted numerically on the heat transfer of oscillating flow through a channel filled with metal foam subjected to constant heat flux. The flow field and heat transfer were modeled using the Darcy-Brinkman-Forchheimer-model with corresponding energy equations. The model was validated by comparing the numerical results with available experimental results for a channel filled with aluminum foam. The distribution of surface temperature on the heated plate and local Nusselt number were calculated. The effect of amplitude and frequency of oscillating flow on the heat transfer in porous channel were analyzed. The results of numerical analysis showed significant heat transfer enhancements by inserting metal foam in the channel. Furthermore, local Nusselt number increases with employing high amplitude and frequency of the oscillating air flow. Effects of thermal conductivity of metal foam and Reynolds number were also numerically analyzed. Results showed that an increase in thermal conductivity of the metal foam and Reynolds number can significantly increase the heat transfer. It is revealed that the proposed numerical model can efficiently provide useful information for the design of metal foam filled heat sinks with oscillatory inlet flow. (C) 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.