Pore-scale simulation of laminar flow through a sample of aluminum foam

Open-cell metal foams are used in a growing number of applications like lightweight porous structures, enhanced heat transfer devices and compact heat exchangers, catalytic reactors, and even rotors of centrifugal compressors. In many cases, pressure drops and flow rates through the metal foams are predicted using the macroscopic Darcy-Forchheimer equation. Values obtained can be accurate enough for applications, provided the hydraulic properties of the foam are known. The present work is aimed to describe a numerical approach for calculating the hydraulic permeability and the Ergun coefficient of a real sample of metal foam starting from an x-ray tomography of the sample. Fluid dynamic simulations are conducted in the digital sample at the scale of the pores and data obtained are postprocessed to obtain the main hydraulic properties of the porous material. © 2013 by Begell House, Inc.