A Predicting Model for the Effective Thermal Conductivity of Anisotropic Open-Cell Foam

Chao Zhang, Xiangzhuang Kong, Xian Wang (), Yanxia Du and Guangming Xiao ()
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Chao Zhang: State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, School of Aerospace Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Xiangzhuang Kong: State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, School of Aerospace Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Xian Wang: State Key Laboratory for Strength and Vibration of Mechanical Structures, School of Aerospace Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Yanxia Du: State Key Laboratory of Aerodynamics, China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center, Mianyang 621000, China
Guangming Xiao: State Key Laboratory of Aerodynamics, China Aerodynamics Research and Development Center, Mianyang 621000, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 16, 1-17

Abstract: The structural anisotropy of open-cell foam leads to the anisotropy of effective thermal conductivity (ETC). To quantitatively analyze the effect of structural anisotropy on the anisotropy of ETC, a new predicting model for the ETC of anisotropic open-cell foam was proposed based on an anisotropy tetrakaidecahedron cell (ATC). Feret diameters in three orthogonal directions obtained by morphological analysis of real foam structures were used to characterize the anisotropy of ATC. To validate our proposed anisotropic model, the ETCs of real foam structures in three orthogonal directions predicted by it were compared with the numerical results, for which the structures of numerical models are reconstructed by X-ray computed tomography (X-CT). Using the present anisotropic model, the influences of the thermal conductivity ratio (TCR) and porosity of the foams on the anisotropic ratios of ETCs are also investigated. Results show that there is good consistency between the ETCs obtained by the anisotropic model and the numerical method. The maximum relative errors between them are 2.84% and 13.57% when TCRs are 10 and 100, respectively. The present anisotropic model can not only predict the ETCs in different orthogonal directions but also quantitatively predict the anisotropy of ETC. The anisotropies of the ETCs decrease with porosity because the proportion of the foam skeleton decreases. However, the anisotropies of ETCs increase with TCR, and there exist asymptotic values in anisotropic ratios of ETCs as TCR approaches infinity and they are equal to the relative Feret diameters in different orthogonal directions.

Keywords: structural anisotropy; anisotropic tetrakaidecahedron cell; anisotropy of effective thermal conductivity; Feret diameters; predicting model (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: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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