Simulated Microstructural Evolution and Design of Porous Sintered Wicks

Porous structures formed by sintering of powders, which involves material-bonding under the application of heat, are commonly employed as capillary wicks in two-phase heat transport devices such as heat pipes. These sintered wicks are often fabricated in an ad hoc manner, and their microstructure is not optimized for fluid and thermal performance. Understanding the role of sintering kinetics—and the resulting microstructural evolution—on wick transport properties is important for fabrication of structures with optimal performance. A cellular automaton model is developed in this work for predicting microstructural evolution during sintering. The model, which determines mass transport during sintering based on curvature gradients in digital images, is first verified against benchmark cases, such as the evolution of a square shape into an areapreserving circle. The model is then employed to predict the sintering dynamics of a sideby- side, two-particle configuration conventionally used for the study of sintering. Results from previously published studies on sintering of cylindrical wires are used for validation. Randomly packed multiparticle configurations are then considered in two and three dimensions. Sintering kinetics are described by the relative change in overall surface area of the compact compared to the initial random packing. The effect of sintering parameters, particle size, and porosity on fundamental transport properties, viz., effective thermal conductivity and permeability, is analyzed. The effective thermal conductivity increases monotonically as either the sintering time or temperature is increased. Permeability is observed to increase with particle size and porosity. As sintering progresses, the slight increase observed in the permeability of the microstructure is attributed to a reduction in the surface area

3D Reconstruction and Design of Porous Media from Thin Sections

Characterization and design of fluid-thermal transport through random porous sintered beds is critical for improving the performance of two-phase heat transport devices such as heat pipes. Two-dimensional imaging techniques are quite well developed and commonly employed for microstructure and material characterization. In this study, we employ 2D image data (thin sections) for measuring critical microstructural features of commercial wicks for use in correlation-based prediction of transport properties. We employ a stochastic characterization methodology based on the two-point autocorrelation function, and compare the predicted properties such as particle and pore diameters and permeability with those from our previously published studies, in which 3D x-ray microtomography data was employed for reconstruction. Further, we implement a reconstruction technique for reconstructing a three-dimensional stochastic equivalent structure from the thin sections. These reconstructed domains are employed for predicting effective thermal conductivity, permeability and interfacial heat transfer coefficient in single-phase flow. The current computations are found to compare well with models and correlations from the literature, as well as our previous numerical studies. Finally, we propose a new parametrized model for the design of porous materials based on the nature of the two-point autocorrelation functions. Using this model, we reconstruct sample three-dimensional microstructures, and analyze the influence of various parameters on fluid-thermal properties of interest. With advances in additive manufacturing techniques, such an approach may eventually be employed to design intricate porous structures with properties tailored to specific applications

Optimization Under Uncertainty Applied to Heat Sink Design

Optimization under uncertainty (OUU) is a powerful methodology used in design and optimization to produce robust, reliable designs. Such an optimization methodology, employed when the input quantities of interest are uncertain, yields output uncertainties that help the designer choose appropriate values for input parameters to produce safe designs. Apart from providing basic statistical information, such as mean and standard deviation in the output quantities, uncertainty-based optimization produces auxiliary information, such as local and global sensitivities. The designer may thus decide the input parameter(s) to which the output quantity of interest is most sensitive, and thereby design better experiments based on just the most sensitive input parameter(s). Another critical output of such a methodology is the solution to the inverse problem, i.e., finding the allowable uncertainty (range) in the input parameter(s), given an acceptable uncertainty (range) in the output quantities of interest. We apply optimization under uncertainty to the problem of heat transfer in fin heat sinks with uncertainties in geometry and operating conditions. The analysis methodology is implemented using DAKOTA, an open-source design and analysis kit. A response surface is first generated which captures the dependence of the quantity of interest on inputs. This response surface is then used to perform both deterministic and probabilistic optimization of the heat sink, and the results of the two approaches are compared

Numerical Investigation of Pressure Drop and Heat Transfer through Reconstructed Metal Foams and Comparison against Experiments

Direct numerical simulation of transport in foam materials can benefit from realistic representations of the porous-medium geometry generated by employing non-destructive 3D imaging techniques. X-ray microtomography employs computer-processed X-rays to produce tomographic images or slices of specific regions of the object under investigation, and is ideally suited for imaging opaque and intricate porous media. In this work, we employ micro-CT for numerical analysis of air flow and convection through four different high-porosity copper foams. All four foam samples exhibit approximately the same relative density (6.4% - 6.6% solid volume fraction), but have different pore densities (5, 10, 20, and 40 pores per inch, PPI). A commercial micro-computed tomography scanner is employed for scanning the 3D microstructure of the foams at a resolution of 20 μm, yielding stacks of two-dimensional images. These images are processed in order to reconstruct and mesh the real, random structure of the foams, upon which simulations are conducted of forced convection through the pore spaces of the foam samples. The pressure drop values from this μCT based CFD analysis are compared against prior experimental results; the computational interfacial heat transfer results are compared against the values predicted by an empirical correlation previously reported, revealing excellent agreement between the numerical and experimental/empirical hydraulic and thermal results, thus highlighting the efficacy of this novel approach

Resistance network-based thermal conductivity model for metal foams

A network model for the estimation of effective thermal conductivity of open-celled metal foams is pre-sented. A nodal network representation of three aluminum foam samples from DUOCEL – 10 ppi, 20 ppi and 40 ppi – is constructed out of X-ray microtomography data obtained by computed tomography (CT) scanning of the samples using a commercial CT scanner. Image processing and 3D skeletonization are performed with commercially available image processing software. The effective thermal conductivity is estimated through a 1D conduction model, representing individual ligaments as an effective thermal resistance using the topological information from the scan data. The effective thermal conductivity data thus obtained are compared with the Lemlich theory and other pore-based models. Further, microstruc-tural characterization of foam features – pore size, ligament thickness, ligament length and pore shapes – is performed. All the three foam samples are observed to have similar pore shapes and volumetric poros-ity, while the other features scale with the pore size. For a given porosity the computed permeability is found to scale as the square of the pore diameter, as also noted by previous researchers

Simulated Microstructural Evolution and Design of Porous Sintered Wicks

Porous structures formed by sintering of powders, which involves material-bonding under the application of heat, are commonly employed as capillary wicks in two-phase heat transport devices such as heat pipes. These sintered wicks are often fabricated in an ad hoc manner, and their microstructure is not optimized for fluid and thermal performance. Understanding the role of sintering kinetics-and the resulting microstructural evolution-on wick transport properties is important for fabrication of structures with optimal performance. A cellular automaton model is developed in this work for predicting microstructural evolution during sintering. The model, which determines mass transport during sintering based on curvature gradients in digital images, is first verified against benchmark cases, such as the evolution of a square shape into an areapreserving circle. The model is then employed to predict the sintering dynamics of a sideby-side, two-particle configuration conventionally used for the study of sintering. Results from previously published studies on sintering of cylindrical wires are used for validation. Randomly packed multiparticle configurations are then considered in two and three dimensions. Sintering kinetics are described by the relative change in overall surface area of the compact compared to the initial random packing. The effect of sintering parameters, particle size, and porosity on fundamental transport properties, viz., effective thermal conductivity and permeability, is analyzed. The effective thermal conductivity increases monotonically as either the sintering time or temperature is increased. Permeability is observed to increase with particle size and porosity. As sintering progresses, the slight increase observed in the permeability of the microstructure is attributed to a reduction in the surface area

Effects of Multiple Sintering Parameters on the Thermal Performance of Bi-porous Nickel Wicks in Loop Heat Pipes

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Y. Qu, K. Zhou, K. F. Zhang and Y. Tian, ‘Effects of multiple sintering parameters on the thermal performance of bi-porous nickel wicks in Loop Heat Pipes’, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 99: 638-646, August 2016, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2016.04.005. This manuscript version is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License CC BY NC-ND 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.The thermal performance of a water-saturated Loop Heat Pipe (LHP) with bi-porous nickel wicks has been examined theoretically and experimentally, based on five key influencing factors including the content of foaming agent, compacting pressure, incubation time at suitable temperature, sintering temperature and particle size of foaming agent. Comparison was made among a total number of 20 tests with each influencing factor allocated by four different values, where porosity, permeability, capillary suction head and effective thermal conductivity (ETC) were examined. ETC is an important parameter of thermal performance, and its experimental values were compared with eleven theoretical models. The results showed that ETC was mostly affected by the content of foaming agent: 1.9-2.2 times compared to the effect of compacting pressure and incubation time, with the effect of sintering temperature and particle size of foaming agent ata underestimated the true ETC values. In the porosity range of 0.5-0.7, an average of the Chernysheva & Maydanik model and the Chaudhary & Bhandari model was found to be the best fit to the experimental data, providing an accurate method to predict ETC values of water-saturated LHP with bi-porous nickel wicks.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Leadership and decision-making practices in public versus private universities in Pakistan

The goal of this study is to examine differences in leadership and decision-making practices in public and private universities in Pakistan, with a focus on transformational leadership (TL) and participative decision-making (PDM). We conducted semi-structured interviews with 46 deans and heads of department from two public and two private universities in Pakistan. Our findings indicate that leadership and decision-making practices are different in public and private universities. While differences were observed in all six types of TL-behaviour, the following three approaches emerged to be crucial in both public and private universities: (1) articulating a vision, (2) fostering the acceptance of group goals, and (3) high-performance expectations. In terms of PDM, deans and heads of department in public and private universities adopt a collaborative approach. However, on a practical level this approach is limited to teacher- and student-related matters. Overall, our findings suggest that the leadership and decision-making practices in Pakistani public and private universities are transformational and participative in nature