Thermo-Fluidic Comparison between Sandwich Panels with Tetrahedral Lattice Cores Fabricated by Casting and Metal Sheet Folding

Xiaoqing Zhang, Xin Jin, Gongnan Xie and Hongbin Yan
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Xiaoqing Zhang: Air-Breathing Hypersonic Technology Research Centre, China Aerodynamics Research and Development Centre, Mianyang 621000, China
Xin Jin: School of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Gongnan Xie: School of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China
Hongbin Yan: School of Marine Science and Technology, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710072, China

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: This numerical study compares single-phase forced convective heat transfer between two sandwich panels with tetrahedral metallic lattice cores separately fabricated by investment casting and the more cost-effective metal sheet folding method. The numerical model is validated against available experimental data. For a given Reynolds number and core porosity, the results reveal that the brazed sandwich outperforms the casted sandwich, exhibiting a 13% to 16% higher Nusselt number. Bigger vertexes and more evident blockage of mainstream by the ligaments are found to intensify the horseshoe vortex and the counter-rotating vortex pair upstream and downstream of each vertex. Relative to the casted sandwich panel, therefore, endwall heat transfer is enhanced by 22% to 27%, while similar heat transfer is achieved on the ligaments. It is also found that, for a given Reynolds number, the brazed sandwich induces a 1.6 to 1.7 times higher pressure drop relative to the casted sandwich due to more severe flow separation caused by the sharp edges of the rectangular ligaments. Finally, for a given pumping power, both sandwiches provide a similar heat transfer performance. Given that the brazed sandwich is more cost-effective and easier to fabricate than the casted one, the former may be superior from an engineering application point of view.

Keywords: tetrahedral metallic lattice; morphological effect; turbulent flow; heat transfer (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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