Modelling steady-state convective heat transfer in different periodic open cellular structures (POCS)-A superposition approach

Additively manufactured periodic open cellular structures (POCS) offer promising attributes for the inten-sification of heat transfer processes. Their geometry and consequently thermal transport properties are highly customizable resulting in a vast design freedom. To fully exploit their potential, a detailed under-standing of the relationship between their geometric and thermal transport properties is crucial. There-fore, in this contribution the convective heat transfer in four different unit cell geometries and varying cell dimensions during fully developed laminar steady-state flow is investigated. Numerical simulations are used to get a detailed insight of the local flow structures and heat flux density distributions. A cor-relation between the heat transfer coefficient of each unit cell and the heat transfer capability of uncon-nected strut arrangements with similar flow paths is introduced. On this basis, a new modelling approach is established in combination with the concept of superposition. It takes into account the detailed geome-try of the porous medium and shows good agreement with the simulation data of all unit cell geometries studied in this work with porosities above 79.1%. Thus, it is the first model applicable to different types of unit cells.(c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.