Measurement and Determination of Friction Characteristic of Air Flow through Porous Media

Sintered metal porous media currently plays an important role in air bearing systems. When flowing through porous media, the flow properties are generally represented by incompressible Darcy-Forchheimer regime or Ergun regime. In this study, a modified Ergun equation, which includes air compressibility effects, is developed to describe friction characteristic. Experimental and theoretical investigations on friction characteristic are conducted with a series of metal-sintered porous media. Re = 10 is selected as the boundary for a viscous drag region and a form drag region. Experimental data are first used to determine the coefficient alpha in the viscous drag region, and then the coefficient beta in the form drag region, rather than both simultaneously. Also, the theoretical mass flow rate in terms of the modified Ergun equation provides close approximations to the experimental data. Finally, it is also known that both the air compressibility and inertial effects can obviously enhance the pressure drop.