Characterisation of heat transfer in high thermal conductivity graphite foam

This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of forced convection heat transfer in microcellular graphite foam of high thermal conductivity. The test section was designed to be adiabatic with constant heat flux supplied at the bottom of the channel. The graphite foam heat sinks were fabricated into different structures and compared with conventional aluminum heat sinks of the same configurations. Heat transfer characteristics including local temperature and Nusselt number distributions for steady flow through the tested heat sinks were measured and discussed. The results show that graphite foam heat sinks give better heat transfer performance as compared to conventional aluminum heat sinks for different configurations. The highest heat transfer rate is obtained by the graphite foam heat sink with a fin structure. The study implies that graphite foam material can offer a combination of properties ideally suited for applications in high heat flux thermal management applications where conventional materials and products are not adequate.