Characterization and Modeling of Advanced Open-Porous Copper Heat Exchanger Materials

Abstract

Open-porous copper foams applied as heat exchanger materials are addressed within the study. Commercially available materials are characterized with the use of microcomputed tomography. The results of materials characterization act as assumptions for the development of a numerical design procedure, with the ability to control the selection of porous structure parameters, including constrictivity and pore size distribution. An adaptation of Laguerre-Voronoi tessellations is performed allowing for exact representation of complex porous structures. The design algorithm has been developed in such a way as to enable determination of the influence of pore size distribution on utility properties such as temperature transfer efficiency.