Fabrication of Lotus‐type Porous Metals and their Physical Properties

Lotus‐type porous metals whose long cylindrical pores are aligned in one direction were fabricated by unidirectional solidification in a pressurized gas atmosphere. The pores are formed as a result of precipitation of supersaturated gas when liquid metal is solidified. The lotus‐type porous metals with homogeneous size and porosity of the evolved pores produced by a mould casting technique are limited to the metals with high thermal conductivity. On the other hand, the pores with inhomogeneous pore size and porosity are evolved for metals and alloys with low thermal conductivity such as stainless steel. In order to obtain uniform pore size and porosity, a new “continuous zone melting technique” was developed to fabricate long rod‐ and plate‐shape porous metals and alloys even with low thermal conductivity. Mechanical properties of tensile and compressive strength of lotus‐type porous metals and alloys are described together with internal friction, elasticity, thermal conductivity and sound absorption characteristics. All the physical properties exhibit significant anisotropy. Lotus‐type porous iron fabricated using a pressurized nitrogen gas instead of hydrogen exhibits superior strength.     

On the Anisotropy of Lotus‐Type Porous Copper

This paper addresses the thermal and mechanical properties of lotus‐type porous copper. Due to their cellular metal characteristics in combination with strong anisotropy, lotus‐type materials exhibit unique properties. As an example, directional thermal conduction enables the controlled transport of thermal energy in the pore direction without the need of strong thermal insulation. In this paper, thermal and mechanical finite element analyses are performed. The effective thermal conductivity, Young's modulus, and the 0.2%‐offset yield strength are determined. Special consideration is given to the anisotropy of the material. In order to guarantee accurate discretization of the complex material geometry, calculation models are directly based on computed microtomography data. Elastic properties are compared to experimental data and good agreement is found. For the characterization of the thermal anisotropy, a second numerical approach, called the Lattice Monte Carlo method, is used along with thermal finite element analysis. In addition to the numerical methods, the analytical Maxwell, Dulynev, and Bruggeman models are applied. Good agreement for the application of two‐dimensional versions of Dulynev's and Bruggeman models is observed whereas the Maxwell model significantly overestimates the material properties.     

Thermal conductivity issues of EB‐PVD thermal barrier coatings

The thermal conductivity of electron‐beam physical vapor deposited (EB‐PVD) thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) was investigated by the Laser Flash technique. Sample type and methodology of data analyses as well as atmosphere during the measurement have some influence on the data. A large variation of the thermal conductivity was found by changes in TBC microstructure. Exposure at high temperature caused sintering of the porous microstructure that finally increased thermal conductivity up to 30 %. EB‐PVD TBCs show a distinct thickness dependence of the thermal conductivity due to the anisotropic microstructure in thickness direction. Thin TBCs had a 20 % lower thermal conductivity than thick coatings. New compositions of the ceramic top layer offer the largest potential to lower thermal conductivity. Values down to 0.8W/(mK) have been already demonstrated with virgin coatings of pyrochlore compositions.     

Influence of pores on the thermal insulation behavior of thermal barrier coatings prepared by atmospheric plasma spray

The defects in materials play very important role on the effective thermal conductivity. Especially, the spatial and geometrical characteristics of pores are significant factors for the thermal insulation behavior of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs). In this paper, finite element method was employed to simulate the thermal transfer behavior of TBCs with different spatial and geometrical characteristic of pores. The simulation results indicate that the thermal insulation effect of TBCs would be enhanced when the pore size, pore volume fraction and pore layers which are perpendicular to the thickness direction increase and the space between the adjacent pores decreases. It is predicted that the effective thermal conductivity is different at different directions for the atmospheric plasma spray (APS) TBCs. A novel method, Computational Micromechanics Method (CMM), was utilized to depict the thermal transferring behavior of actual coatings. At the same time, model with different kinds of defects were established, and the effective thermal conductivity as the function of defect orientation angle, defect volume fraction and defect shape coefficient was discussed in detail. The simulation results will help us to further understand the heat transfer process across highly porous structures and will provide us a powerful guide to design coating with high thermal insulation property.     

多孔材料辐射-传热耦合性能的统计二阶双尺度计算

对多孔材料辐射-传热耦合计算的数学模型, 即Rosseland方程, 给出了一种统计的二阶双尺度分析方法, 并针对典型问题进行了数值模拟。建立了考虑辐射项的统计二阶双尺度计算公式, 给出了统计意义下热流密度极值的预测算法, 并通过与理论解的比较对算法进行了验证, 利用本文中方法研究了孔洞体分比和空间分布状态对陶瓷多孔材料热传导系数、 辐射传导系数和热流密度极值的影响。结果表明: 孔洞体积分数的增加将导致有效热传导系数下降; 热流密度极值随孔洞体积分数的增加而变大, 并且在高温时辐射的作用明显增大; 数值试验表明, 使用统计二阶双尺度方法及其有限元算法预测孔洞随机分布复合材料结构的热性能是有效的。     

Autonomic thermal management of graphite fiber/epoxy composite structures using an addressable conducting network

This paper aims to develop an autonomic thermal management system of graphite fiber/polymer composite structures using their electrical property. A number of copper tapes are integrated on top and bottom surfaces of a composite plate, and through the thickness resistances between these tapes are measured on a hotplate for temperature monitoring. The resistance at warmer area successfully reflected the temperature distribution taken by an IR imaging camera. The same copper tapes are subsequently used for generating resistive heat by supplying a large amount of current. The effective heat generation is investigated by a finite element analysis, showing that the temperature of a laminate can be controlled by adjusting the conductivity in the fiber and thickness directions.     

Characterization and stability analysis of oil‐based copper oxide nanofluids for medium temperature solar collectors

Thermal oils are widely used as heat transfer fluids in medium temperature applications. Addition of small amounts of nanoparticles in such fluids can significantly improve their thermophysical properties. This paper presents experimental investigation of an oil‐based nanofluids prepared by dispersing different concentrations (0.25 wt%–1.0 wt%) of copper oxide nanoparticles in Therminol‐55 oil using two‐step method. Shear mixing and ultrasonication were used for uniform distribution and de‐agglomeration of nanoparticles to enhance the stability of the suspensions. The effect of nanoparticles concentrations on thermophysical properties of the nanofluids was analysed by measuring thermal conductivity, dynamic viscosity, effective density and specific heat capacity at different temperatures (25 °C–130 °C). Thermal conductivity exhibited increasing trend with rising temperature and increase in nanoparticles loading. A significant decrease in dynamic viscosity and effective density against increasing temperature makes it suitable for medium temperature applications. Nano‐oils with improved thermal properties are expected to increase the efficiency of concentrating solar thermal collectors.     

Solid‐State Explosive Reaction for Nanoporous Bulk Thermoelectric Materials

High‐performance thermoelectric materials require ultralow lattice thermal conductivity typically through either shortening the phonon mean free path or reducing the specific heat. Beyond these two approaches, a new unique, simple, yet ultrafast solid‐state explosive reaction is proposed to fabricate nanoporous bulk thermoelectric materials with well‐controlled pore sizes and distributions to suppress thermal conductivity. By investigating a wide variety of functional materials, general criteria for solid‐state explosive reactions are built upon both thermodynamics and kinetics, and then successfully used to tailor material's microstructures and porosity. A drastic decrease in lattice thermal conductivity down below the minimum value of the fully densified materials and enhancement in thermoelectric figure of merit are achieved in porous bulk materials. This work demonstrates that controlling materials' porosity is a very effective strategy and is easy to be combined with other approaches for optimizing thermoelectric performance.     

基于孔尺度的泡沫金属强化相变储热材料传热性能数值模拟

导热系数低是影响相变储热材料应用的主要难题之一,而泡沫金属具有高热导率、高孔隙率以及高比表面积等特性,在相变材料中添加泡沫金属可实现强化传热。该文基于泡沫金属基3D微观结构W-P模型,重点分析了泡沫金属基复合相变材料有效导热系数与泡沫金属孔隙率以及孔径的关系,采用数值模拟方法利用该模型预测并验证了泡沫铝6101添加空气与水的有效导热系数,研究结果表明该模型能够精确预测泡沫金属材料有效导热系数,在此基础上预测了石蜡中添加泡沫铜的有效导热系数,结果表明,泡沫金属可以显著提高相变材料的导热系数,当泡沫铜的孔隙率为97.57%时,复合相变材料的导热系数与纯石蜡相比提高了13倍。研究结果对于相变储热材料的热物性强化研究具有一定参考价值。     

Heat conduction in closed‐cell cellular metals

The purpose of this research was to describe the thermal transport properties in closed‐cell cellular metals. Influence of cell size variations with different pore gases has been investigated with transient computational simulations. Heat conduction through the base material and gas in pores (cavities) was considered, while the convection and radiation were neglected in the initial stage of this research. First, parametric analysis for defining the proper mesh density and time step were carried out. Then, two‐dimensional computational models of the cellular structure, consisting of the base material and the pore gas, have been solved using ANSYS CFX software within the framework of finite volume elements. The results have confirmed the expectations that the majority of heat is being transferred through the metallic base material with almost negligible heat conduction through the gas in pores. The heat conduction in closed‐cell cellular metals is therefore extremely depended on the relative density but almost insensitive regarding to the gas inside the pore, unless the relative density is very low.     

Mild‐Temperature Solution‐Assisted Encapsulation of Phosphorus into ZIF‐8 Derived Porous Carbon as Lithium‐Ion Battery Anode

The high theoretical capacity of red phosphorus (RP) makes it a promising anode material for lithium‐ion batteries. However, the large volume change of RP during charging/discharging imposes an adverse effect on the cyclability and the rate performance suffers from its low conductivity. Herein, a facile solution‐based strategy is exploited to incorporate phosphorus into the pores of zeolitic imidazole framework (ZIF‐8) derived carbon hosts under a mild temperature. With this method, the blocky RP is etched into the form of polyphosphides anions (PP, mainly P₅^?) so that it can easily diffuse into the pores of porous carbon hosts. Especially, the indelible crystalline surface phosphorus can be effectively avoided, which usually generates in the conventional vapor‐condensation encapsulation method. Moreover, highly‐conductive ZIF‐8 derived carbon hosts with any pore smaller than 3 nm are efficient for loading PP and these pores can alleviate the volume change well. Finally, the composite of phosphorus encapsulated into ZIF‐8 derived porous carbon exhibits a significantly improved electrochemical performance as lithium‐ion battery anode with a high capacity of 786 mAh g^?1 after 100 cycles at 0.1 A g^?1, a good stability within 700 cycles at 1 A g^?1, and an excellent rate performance.     

Fabrication of Lotus‐Structured Porous Iron by Unidirectional Solidification under Nitrogen Gas

A novel technique has been developed to fabricate lotus‐structured porous iron in which long cylindrical pores are aligned in one direction. The iron is melted and unidirectionally solidified in a pressurized gas mixture of nitrogen and argon. The process involves the dissolution of nitrogen in molten iron and the evolution of nitrogen pores due to the decrease in solubility of nitrogen during solidification. The porosity is controlled by adjusting the partial pressures of nitrogen and argon during melting and solidification. The nitrogen concentration in solid iron increases with increasing partial pressure of nitrogen at a given total pressure, leading to improvement of the mechanical properties of the porous iron.     

Effective Thermal Conductivity of Moist Porous Sintered Nickel Material

The effective thermal conductivity of capillary structures is an important parameter in the thermal performance analysis of loop heat pipes (LHP). In this paper, the effective thermal conductivity of porous sintered nickel material filled with water, ethanediol, and glycerin were measured by means of the hot disk thermal constant analyzer. The measured data were compared with similar measured data and calculated values from models in the literature. The results indicate that the thermal conductivity of the porous material depends on the thermal conductivity of the fluid, the filled ratio, and the porosity of the material.Paper presented at the Seventh Asian Thermophysical Properties Conference, August 23–28, 2004, Hefei and Huangshan, Anhui, P. R. China     

Properties of gasars-metallic materials with pores formed by released hydrogen

We developed a new type of porous materials with anisotropic structure based on a large number of metals. It is shown that these material, called gasars, have properties different from the properties of the other porous materials. Thus, the strength of gasars is much higher than the strength of powder materials with the same porosity and their impact toughness is readily regulated by the sizes of the pores. The internal structures of gasars and possible versions of the types of pores in these materials are strongly diversified, which makes the spectrum of their possible applications very wide. We discuss some specific directions of the potential applications of gasars. The results of measurements of the thermal conductivity of gasars and monolithic specimens are presented. It is shown that, for a certain level of porosity, the specific thermal conductivity of gasars is higher than for monolithic materials. We also make some basic conclusions concerning the characteristics of new porous materials. __________ Translated from Fizyko-Khimichna Mekhanika Materialiv, Vol. 43, No. 5, pp. 125–127, September–October, 2007.     

Effective thermal conductivity of a high porosity model food at above and sub-freezing temperatures

The modelling of heat transfer within materials with high porosity is complicated by evaporation-condensation phenomena. The aim of this work is to develop a model for apparent thermal conductivity in these products. The effective thermal conductivity of a porous food model (sponge) having 0–60% moisture contents and 0.59–0.94 porosity was measured by a line-source heat probe system in the range −35 to 25 °C. Two predictive models of the effective thermal conductivity of porous food were developed (Krischer and Maxwell models). The effective thermal conductivity predicted by Krischer model were in good agreement with the experimental data. Also, it was shown that the model including the effect of evaporation-condensation phenomena in addition to heat conduction was useful to predict the effective thermal conductivity of sponges.     

Copper‐Halide Polymer Nanowires as Versatile Supports for Single‐Atom Catalysts

Single‐atom catalysts are heterogeneous catalysts with atomistically dispersed atoms acting as a catalytically active center, and have recently attracted much attention owing to the minimal use of noble metals. However, a scalable and inexpensive support that can stably anchor isolated atoms remains a challenge due to high surface energy. Here, copper‐halide polymer nanowires with sub‐nanometer pores are proposed as a versatile support for single‐atom catalysts. The synthesis of the nanowires is straightforward and completed in a few minutes. Well‐defined sub‐nanometer pores and a large free volume of the nanowires are advantageous over any other support material. The nanowires can anchor various atomistically dispersed metal atoms into the sub‐nanometer pores up to ≈3 at% via a simple solution process, and this value is at least twice as big as previously reported data. The hydrogen evolution reaction activity of ?18.0 A mg_Pt^?1 at ?0.2 V overpotential shows its potential for single‐atom catalysts support.     

Anisotropic Gurson‐Tvergaard‐Needleman plasticity and damage model for finite element analysis of elastic‐plastic problems

Implementation and analysis of the anisotropic version of the Gurson‐Tvergaard‐Needleman (GTN) isotropic damage criterion are performed on the basis of Hill's quadratic anisotropic yield theory with the definition of an effective anisotropic coefficient to represent the elastic‐plastic behavior of ductile metals. This study aims to analyze the extension of the GTN model suitable for anisotropic porous metals and to investigate the GTN model extension. An anisotropic damage model is implemented using the user material subroutine in ABAQUS/standard finite element code. The implementation is verified and applied to simulate a uniaxial tensile test on a commercially produced aluminum sheet material for three‐dimensional and plane stress test cases. Spherical and ellipsoidal micro voids are considered in the matrix material, and their effects on the uniaxial stress‐strain response of the material are analyzed. Hill's quadratic anisotropic yield theory predicts substantially large damage evolution and a low stress‐strain curve compared with those predicted by the isotropic model. An approximate model for anisotropic materials is proposed to avoid increased damage evolution. In this approximate model, Hill's anisotropic constants are replaced with an effective anisotropy coefficient. All model‐generated stress‐strain predictions are compared with the experimental stress‐strain curve of AA6016‐T4 alloy.     

Faser‐ und drahtverstärkte Kupferlegierungen als Wärmesenke für Fusionsreaktoren

Fibre and wire reinforced copper alloys as heat sinks for fusion reactors The CuCr1Zr alloy is used in existing experimental fusion reactors and planned to be used as a heat sink in ITER because of his mechanical properties and thermal conductivity (at 20 °C 310–330 W/m/K). Because of aging this dispersion‐hardened alloy is limited in use to temperatures below 450 °C. A possibility to increase the service temperature (the aim is 550 °C) is to reinforce the alloy with SiC‐fibres or W‐wires. With the aid of SiC (SCS‐6) fibres and W‐wires (diameter ～150 μm for both) coated with the CuCr1Zr‐alloy, Cu‐MMCs are produced and their properties (tensile strength, thermal conductivity, fibre/matrix interface properties) are determined. Processing (Hot Isostatic Pressing) causes the alloy to age, making an additional heat treatment necessary in order to optimize the properties. The tensile strength of the different Cu‐MMCs was determined as a function of the volume content of the reinforcements. Tensile strength rises with increasing volume fraction of fibres (or wires) and reaches e.g. 1000 MPa for a SiC‐fibre volume fraction of 24 % or a W‐wire volume fraction of 27 %. Measurements of the thermal conductivity, performed by laser flash, show that the thermal conductivity is reduced with increasing fibre volume fraction (e.g. 200 W/m/K for a fibre volume fraction of 30 %). The W‐wire reinforced CuCr1Zr alloy has been selected because of its better thermal conductivity and interfacial properties to estimate the potential of this Cu‐MMC in a first design study of heat sinks on the basis of different divertor construction types.     

Verbundstrangpressen von Titan‐Aluminium‐Verbindungen

Rod Extrusion of Titanium‐Aluminum Composites The combination of different metals enables the processing of materials with local optimized properties. Thus, the production of metallic composites is associated with high standards in manufacturing technologie. Focus of the following investigations is the rod extrusion process of titanium‐aluminum‐composites. Besides the mechanical properties, the formation of the bonding zone and the mechanisms of adhesion in the bonding zone were investigated. The influence of specimens’ preparation and of different coatings used improve bonding were a matter of particular interest. Whereas coatings of copper or nickel inhibit the formation of a strong bonding due to the formation of oxide layers, sealed titanium cores can reach a mechanical strength of up to 100 MPa after rod extrusion. Compared to other joining technologies, an impairment of the base metal via formation of heat affected zones, pores or grain coarsening does not occur.     

Thermal-Conductivity Characterization of Gas Diffusion Layer in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers Under Mechanical Loading

Accurate information on the temperature field and associated heat transfer rates is particularly important for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) and PEM electrolyzers. An important parameter in fuel cell and electrolyzer performance analysis is the effective thermal conductivity of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) which is a solid porous medium. Usually, this parameter is introduced in modeling and performance analysis without taking into account the dependence of the GDL thermal conductivity λ (in W · m⁻¹ · K⁻¹) on mechanical compression. Nevertheless, mechanical stresses arising in an operating system can change significantly the thermal conductivity and heat exchange. Metrology allowing the characterization of the GDL thermal conductivity as a function of the applied mechanical compression has been developed in this study using the transient hot-wire technique (THW). This method is the best for obtaining standard reference data in fluids, but it is rarely used for thermal-conductivity measurements in solids. The experiments provided with Quintech carbon cloth indicate a strong dependence (up to 300%) of the thermal conductivity λ on the applied mechanical load. The experiments have been provided in the pressure range 0 < p < 8 MPa which corresponds to stresses arising in fuel cells. All obtained experimental results have been fitted by the equation λ = 0.9log(12p + 17)(1 − 0.4e^−50p ) with 9% uncertainty. The obtained experimental dependence can be used for correct modeling of coupled thermo/electro-mechanical phenomena in fuel cells and electrolyzers. Special attention has been devoted to justification of the main hypotheses of the THW method and for estimation of the possible influence of the contact resistances. For this purpose, measurements with a different number of carbon cloth layers have been provided. The conducted experiments indicate the independence of the measured thermal conductivity on the number of GDL layers and, thus, justify the robustness of the developed method and apparatus for this type of application.