Pore-scale direct numerical simulation of forced convection heat transfer in minichannel with open-cell porous copper ribs

Compact minichannels are particularly suitable for heat dissipation of electronic devices, open-cell porous copper has perspective applications in convection heat transfer. This work proposes a minichannel with open-cell porous copper ribs, and its forced convection heat transfer performance was direct numerically investigated at pore-scale. Applying micro-CT technology and Mimics software, the three-dimensional structure of an open-cell porous copper with 90 PPI and 0.88 porosity was reconstructed, Pore-scale simulation provides a clear visualization of the flow characteristics within open-cell porous copper rib. The results indicate that streamlines are disordered, and velocity vectors are randomly distributed in three-dimensional space. The spatial network structure causes significant flow disturbance and disrupts the laminar flow state of fluid. The open-cell porous copper rib minichannel exhibits higher heat transfer capacity compared to the solid rib minichannel. Nusselt number increases by 1.9-4.4 times within Reynolds number ranges from 107.9 to 968.8, and pump power decreases by 65 % compared to solid rib minichannel. In general, the open-cell porous copper rib minichannel demonstrates superior overall performance, with the performance evaluation factor PEC ranging from 1.05 to 2.2. Constructing a minichannel with open-cell porous copper provides a reference for developing highperformance minichannels.