P. De Jaeger

An experimentally validated and parameterized periodic unit-cell reconstruction of open-cell foams

The physical behavior of open-cell foams depends on their microscopic structure. An open-cell geometrical model is proposed, which can serve as the basis for a future macroscopic analysis. The strut geometry is of particular interest, as it is reported to have substantial influence on the occurring thermo-hydraulic and mechanical phenomena. Axial strut size variation, as well as the porosity dependence of shape is quantified and included in a geometrical model. The foam is generated by placing the struts on an elongated tetrakaidecahedron. The required input parameters for the model are two cell dimensions, corresponding to the mean transverse and conjugate diameters of the ellipse encompassing a cell, and the strut cross-sectional surface area at its midpoint between two nodes. The foam geometry is generated iteratively, as porosity is used as validation. A high resolution micro-computed tomography scan is performed to measure the three parameters, the resulting porosity and surface-to-volume ratio. This allows to validate the model. The predictions are found to be within measurement accuracy. A numerical implementation of the model in the preprocessor of a commercial CFD package is demonstrated.

Beamforming in the Presence of Mutual Coupling Based on Constrained Particle Swarm Optimization

Two approaches towards beamforming based on constrained particle swarm optimization (PSO) are presented. One approach relies on the penalty function method, for which a new mathematical expression to select the penalty factors is derived. The other method uses a new PSO strategy for solving constrained optimization problems. To maximize performance of the beamforming procedure, the optimal system parameters for the PSO algorithm are derived. Mutual coupling and platform effects are fully accounted for by using the measured active element radiation patterns. The new PSO strategy is compared with a standard genetic algorithm. Using the measured radiation patterns of a seven-element antenna array, a real-life example is presented that demonstrates the possibilities of the new approach.

Numerical optimization of louvered fin heat exchanger with variable louver angles

Several studies of the louvered fin heat exchanger have already been done. Both experimental and numerical studies are available. Investigations to the optimal louver angle have been performed, many times in combination with other fin parameters such as louver pitch and fin thickness. Most studies assume a single louver angle for all the louvers in the heat exchanger. Hsieh and Jang [1] on the other hand studied the effect of a variable louver angle for 5 different cases with successively increasing or decreasing louver angles. Tube-fin interactions were not taken into account. In this study, a round tube and fin geometry with individually varying louver angles is analyzed. The thickness of the fin was neglected. Any interactions between the optimal louver angles and the fin thickness are hence not captured. A laminar and steady calculation was performed, with symmetric boundary conditions. For the Reynolds number on the hydraulic diameter (ReDh) of 535 that was studied, a Von Karman vortex street is present behind the last tube row of heat exchanger. The steady calculation is hence only an approximation of the reality, but is shown to give reasonable results. An ordinary kriging response surface model was used to explore the entire parameter space. Updates to the model were made on the basis of improving the Pareto front, visualizing the tradeoff between heat transfer and pressure drop. It is shown that the use of individually varying louver angles allows increasing the Colburn j factor by 1.3% for the same friction factor, with respect to the optimal uniform louvered fin configuration.

Numerical Study of Flow Deflection and Horseshoe Vortices in a Louvered Fin Round Tube Heat Exchanger

In louvered fin heat exchangers, the flow deflection influences the heat transfer rate and pressure drop and thus the heat exchangers performance. To date, studies of the flow deflection are two-dimensional, which is an acceptable approximation for flat tube heat exchangers (typical for automotive applications). However, in louvered fin heat exchangers with round tubes, which are commonly used in air-conditioning devices and heat pumps, the flow is three-dimensional throughout the whole heat exchanger. In this study, three-dimensional numerical simulations were performed to investigate the flow deflection and horseshoe vortex development in a louvered fin round tube heat exchanger with three tube rows in a staggered layout. The numerical simulations were validated against the experimental data. It was found that the flow deflection is affected by the tubes in the same tube row (intratube row effect) and by the tubes in the upstream tube rows (inter-tube row effect). Flow efficiency values obtained with two-dimensional studies are representative only for the flow behavior in the first tube row of a staggered louvered fin heat exchanger with round tubes. The flow behavior in the louvered elements of the subsequent tube rows differs strongly due to its three-dimensional nature. Furthermore, it was found that the flow deflection affects the local pressure distributions upstream of the tubes of the downstream tube rows and thus the horseshoe vortex development at these locations. The results of this study are important because the flow behavior is related to the thermal hydraulic performance of the heat exchanger.

An experimental study of natural convection in open-cell aluminum foam

Natural convecton n air-saturated alumnum foam has been measured. A carefully designed experimental setup is built for his ask. The calibraton is done by comparing he results of a flat plate wh literature data, revealing excellent agreement. The nvestigated foams have a pore densiy of 10 and 20 PPI. The bondng of the foam is performed via brazing, or by applying a single epoxy which is enriched wh highly conductve alumna particles. The Rayleigh number is varied between 2500 and 6000, wh he rato of he surface area o he perimeter of he substrate as characteristc length. The foam height is varied between 12 and 25.4 mm. A major difference between both he bondng methods is observed. The brazed samples showed a beter heat ransfer n all cases. Furthermore, when ncreasing he foam height, a clear augmentaton of he heat ransfer is observed. Based on hese results, a correlaton is presented.

Modeling hydrodynamic properties of open-cell metal foams

Modeling the hydrodynamics of open-cell aluminum foam still is a challenging task because of the large range of length-scales, own to the physical phenomena which occur in the complex structure. Upscaling the classical conservation equations is a promising approach, but introduces the problem of modeling closure terms. This is dealt with via the well-known porous properties, i.e., permeability and inertial loss factor. Derivation of these properties is commonly done by linking pressure drop data to velocity via a second order interpolation. This, however, introduces significant deviation between the available data set, up to anorder of magnitude, which in turn results in difficulties to predict pressure drop during desing the desing phase of an applicaiton. As the closure terms have a well-defined physical meaning, it should be possible to compute them with better accuracy. This forms the topic of this paper.

Numerical study of a round tube heat exchanger with louvered fins and delta winglets

Louvered fin and round tube heat exchangers are widely used in air conditioning devices and heat pumps. In this study the effect of punching delta winglet vortex generators in the louvered fin surface is studied numerically. The delta winglets are located in a common-flow-down orientation behind each tube of the staggered tube layout. It is shown that the generated vortices significantly reduce the size of the tube wakes. Three important heat transfer enhancement mechanisms can be distinguished: a better flow mixing, boundary layer thinning and a delay in flow separation from the tube surface. The compound heat exchanger has a better thermal hydraulic performance then when only louvers or only delta winglets are used. Comparison to other enhanced fin designs clearly shows its potential, especially for low Reynolds number applications.