Viren Loya

Project title

The Effect of Microstructure on the Permeability of Metal Foams (In collaboration with IMI-NRC)

Project Summary

The metal foam is an intricately detailed structure. Metal foams have important industrial application due to their large surface area to volume ratio and high permeability. They can be used in lightweight high-strength structural applications, mechanical energy absorbers, filters, heat sinks and heat exchangers etc. The use of open-cell metal foams in fluid-flow applications requires a thorough understanding of the pressure-drop behavior of the fluid flowing through the porous structure. Extensive work has been done so far to characterize the pressure-drop behavior of fluid flow through porous media, however further understanding of the impact of the microstructural factors on the permeability of foamed metal is needed. The aim of this project is to investigate the effect of microstructure on the permeability of the metal foams produced at the Industrial Materials Institute (IMI-NRC), Montreal, Canada.

Published Works

[1] M. Medraj, E. Baril, V. Loya and L. P. Lefebvre, “The effect of microstructure on the permeability of metal foams”, Journal of Materials Science, Vol. 42, Issue 12, 4372-4383 (2007)

[2] V. Loya, M. Medraj, E. Baril, L-P Lefebvre and M. Gauthier, "The permeability of metal foams and its dependence on microstructure", COM 2005, Light Metals 2005, 421-435, Calgary, Canada, (August 21-25, 2005)

[3] P. Khayargoli, V. Loya, L-P Lefebvre and M. Medraj, "The Impact of Microstructure on the Permeability of Metal Foams", Proc. CSME Forum 2004, 220-228, London, Ontario, Canada (June 1-4, 2004).