Visualized-experimental investigation on the melting performance of PCM in 3D printed metal foam. (1st June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhou, Zhijie; Hu, Zhuohuan; Wang, Dan; Wu, Hongwei
• Is Part Of: Thermal science and engineering progress. Volume 31(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-06-01
• Subjects: Phase change material -- 3D printed -- Visualization -- Melting; Heat engineering -- Periodicals; Heat engineering; Thermodynamics; Periodicals; 621.402
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsep.2022.101298
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2451-9049

Abstract

Highlights: A new composite phase change material (PCM) with 3D printed metal foam was proposed. The composite PCM melting performance and thermal non-equilibrium were visualized experimentally. The distributions of both phase and temperature were achieved and analyzed. The effect of 3D printed metal foam on both heat transfer and natural convection was discussed. The effect of contact thermal resistance on heat transfer performance in different directions was evaluated. Abstract: In this article, a new composite phase change material (PCM) with metal foam based on three-dimensional (3D) printed technology has been proposed to reduce the structural parameter uncertainties of metal foam. The composite PCM melting performance was visualized systematically, while both the phase and temperature fields were obtained using photographic and infrared technology. The temperature variations of PCM at different distances from the heating surface on the same level as the internal wall were also captured. Experimental results indicated that: (i) the melting rate of the composite PCM could be significantly improved by 2.5 times when adding 3D printed ALSI10MG aluminium alloy metal foam with a porosity of 0.838; (ii) the phase change interface (PCI) and the temperature contour is similar to that of the metal foam frame; (iii) the enhancement of heat conduction of metal foam is greater than its hindrance to natural convection in composite PCM; (iv) the contact thermal resistance perpendicular to the heat transfer direction could slow down the phase change rate; (v) local thermal non-equilibrium exists between the 3D printed metal foam and PCM. The metal foam fabricated by 3D printed technology has the ability to enhance the heat transfer for composite PCM.