Due to their low density and large specific surface area, metal foams are increasingly
used as cellular materials that combine excellent structural and thermal properties.
Their cellular structure makes them particularly suitable for use in heat exchangers,
insulation, and fire protection layers. The heat transport that takes place within
them is a complex phenomenon characterized by the simultaneous presence of heat conduction,
heat transfer, and heat radiation, making their modeling a significant challenge.
The aim of the research is to develop a one-dimensional, time-dependent, discrete
numerical model capable of describing the effective thermal behavior of metal foams.
The model takes into account heat conduction through the solid phase, conductive heat
transfer in the closed cavities, thermal radiation between the pore walls, and by-passing
heat conduction around the cavity. The results highlight that geometric features such
as cavity size and arrangement have a significant impact on temperature distribution
and confirm that classical Fourier-based models are not accurately applicable to porous
materials. We found that the proposed one-dimensional approach is eligible to reproduce
the experimentally observed non-Fourier effects for which modeling the Guyer–Krumhansl
equations is a proper candidate. Identifying correlations between the thermal diffusivity
and metal foam parameters, we showed that the emerging effective non-Fourier behavior
is not purely a material property but depends on the geometrical structure as well.
