Numerical evaluation of heat dissipation by non-Darcian forced convection in porous/fluid systems

This paper reports on steady flow field and heat dissipation for a configuration relevant to Liquid Composite Moulding (LCM), where a gap between a porous substrate and the solid boundary of a mould cavity yields an edge flow. The flow within the porous domain is modelled by the Brinkman-Forchheimer formulation, the edge flow itself is described by the Navier-Stokes equations and the cure is modelled as a volumetric heat generation within the fluid. The predictions indicate that the presence of the gap may considerably reduce the average flow through the porous substrate for the most adverse conditions. Furthermore, the almost absent convection induces high temperature levels in these regions, potentially yielding the formation of serious part defects.