A numerical analysis of forced convective heat transfer from an elliptical pin fin heat sink
with and without metal foam inserts is conducted using three-dimensional conjugate heat
transfer model. The pin fin heat sink model consists of six elliptical pin rows with 3 mm
major diameter, 2 mm minor diameter, and 20 mm height. The Darcy–Brinkman–
Forchheimer and classical Navier–Stokes equations, together with corresponding energy
equations are used in the numerical analysis of flow field and heat transfer in the heat
sink with and without metal foam inserts, respectively. A finite volume code with point
implicit Gauss–Seidel solver in conjunction with algebraic multigrid method is used to
solve the governing equations. The code is validated by comparing the numerical results
with available experimental results for a pin fin heat sink without porous metal foam
insert. Different metallic foams with various porosities and permeabilities are used in the
numerical analysis. The effects of air flow Reynolds number and metal foam porosity and
permeability on the overall Nusselt number, pressure drop, and the efficiency of heat sink
are investigated. The results indicate that structural properties of metal foam insert can
significantly influence on both flow and heat transfer in a pin fin heat sink. The Nusselt
number is shown to increase more than 400% in some cases with a decrease in porosity
and an increase in Reynolds number. However, the pressure drop increases with decreasing
permeability and increasing Reynolds number.