A simplistic analytical unit cell based model for the effective thermal conductivity of high porosity open-cell metal foams

We present a simplistic yet accurate analytical model for the effective thermal conductivity of high porosity open-cell metal foams saturated in a low conducting fluid (air). The model is derived analytically based on a realistic representative unit cell (a tetrakaidecahedron) under the assumption of one-dimensional heat conduction along highly tortuous-conducting ligaments at high porosity ranges (ε 0.9). Good agreement with existing experimental data suggests that heat conduction along highly conducting and tortuous ligaments predominantly defines the effective thermal conductivity of open-cell metal foams with negligible conduction in parallel through the fluid phase.