Heat transfer and flow visualization experiments of copper foam under impinging jet

This paper presents an experimental study on open-celled copper foam under circular impinging jet. Thermal performance of 10 PPI and 30 PPI copper foam were measured in terms of the average Nusselt number. The smoke wire technique was employed to obtain the impinging flow characteristics over metal foam. Experimental results showed that, under a higher Reynolds number an optimum impinging distance exists to provide the best heat transfer performance, while under a lower Reynolds number the effects of impinging distance on the heat transfer performance can be neglected. 10 PPI copper foam displays 30% higher thermal performance than that of the 30 PPI foam. The flow images can be used to explain the heat transfer behavior of metal foam.