Drag and heat transfer closures for realistic numerically generated random open-cell solid foams using an immersed boundary method

In this paper, we apply a novel immersed boundary method to simulate pore-scale level fluid flow and convective heat transfer in realistic numerically generated open-cell solid foams in a Cartesian computational domain. Five different periodic foam samples of varying porosities (ε=[0.877,0.948]) are generated by numerically mimicking the actual foam formation process (minimizing surface area). The step-by-step procedure for generating the periodic foam geometries is presented. The specific surface areas of the generated foams of different porosities are compared with real foam geometries showing a reasonable agreement. The Reynolds number (Re) is varied from Re≈0 (creeping flow) to Re≈500, and finally drag and Nusselt correlations have been proposed. A detailed analysis is presented on the local velocity and temperature field for the fluid-solid interaction in a complex cellular porous medium.