Solidification of fluid saturated in open-cell metallic foams with graded morphologies

Abstract Solidification of distilled water saturated in open-cell metallic foams with graded morphologies was investigated experimentally. Open-cell foams having different morphological properties including porosity, pore density (PPI) and materials for the porous matrix were cut into pieces and stacked up, forming a whole porous layer with gradient morphological features. Systematic measurements of temporal solidification front and full solidification time for distilled water saturated in the morphology gradient foams were carried out. Meanwhile, numerical simulations of solidification in fluid-saturated metallic foams with uniform morphological properties were performed. It was found that the presence of gradient in foam properties affect significantly the solidification rate and full solidification time. The results showed that compared to the single-layered foam with fixed morphology, the stacked foams with properly designed morphology gradient would reduce more effectively the full solidification time, due to the enhanced heat transfer.