Effective thermal conductivity and permeability of aluminum foam materials

An experimental measurement program was performed to determine thermo-physi cal properties of aluminum-based foam metals. The effective thermal conduct ivity k(e) and permeability K were investigated in detail. Experimental fac ilities were fabricated, and the measurement procedures and methodologies w ere evaluated. One-dimensional heat conduction was considered to determine k(e). The results indicate that k(e) increases as the porosity epsilon decr eases. However, no noticeable changes in k(e) were detected from variations of the cell size of the foam metal at a fixed porosity epsilon. The permea bility K is substantially affected by both epsilon and the cell size. An em pirical correlation for the friction factor f is proposed based on the conc epts of K and inertial effect.