Impact of pore scale parameters on the thermal conductivity of porous building blocks

Abstract

Increasingly stringent energy requirements push for better performing building blocks with reduced thermal conductivity. A numerical framework to predict the heat transfer through porous materials is employed to investigate the effect of several microscale parameters on the macroscale thermal conductivity. Two different algorithms are used to generate a range of different cellular materials. Simulation results highlight the effect of the porosity, pore size distribution, matrix structure and matrix conductivity on the total thermal conductivity.