Thermal performance of SLM-fabricated Al6063 metal foam–PCM composite heat sinks with graded pore size distributions: An experimental study
International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, cilt.179, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 179
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2026.112090
- Dergi Adı: International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Compendex, INSPEC, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Engineering Source (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Additive manufacturing, Graded pore distribution, Phase change material, Selective laser melting (SLM), Thermal energy storage, Thermal management
- Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Efficient thermal management has become a critical challenge in modern energy and electronic systems due to increasing power densities and localized heat generation. The integration of metal foam matrices into phase change material (PCM) systems has emerged as an effective approach to enhance thermal transport and improve heat dissipation within the thermal storage medium. Most previous studies focus on stochastic metal foam structures or uniform pore geometries, which restrict systematic control of heat transfer mechanisms and limit the ability to regulate conduction–convection interactions within the composite structure. In this study, Selective Laser Melting (SLM)-fabricated Al6063 metal foam–paraffin composites with uniform and axially graded (vertical) pore size distributions were experimentally investigated. All structures were fabricated with a constant porosity of approximately 90%, and five configurations were created by varying the volumetric ratio of 3 mm and 6 mm pores. Thermal performance was evaluated under heat loads of 15 W, 25 W, and 35 W using transient temperature measurements, melting front visualization, safe operating time, and thermal conductance calculations. The results show that pore morphology governs the dominant heat transfer mechanism within the composite system. Smaller pores enhance conduction-dominated heat spreading, whereas larger pores promote buoyancy-driven convection in the molten PCM. Graded pore structures enable a favorable conduction–convection synergy that improves overall heat transfer behavior. Compared with the pure PCM baseline at a representative 25 W heat load, the base plate temperature rise rate was reduced by up to 70.2% for the uniform small-pore configuration, and the safe operating time was extended by a factor of up to 7.83. The intermediate graded MF-3 configuration exhibited a highly balanced performance, whereby a maximum thermal conductance improvement of 3.62-fold was achieved in comparison with the pure PCM baseline. These findings highlight the potential of graded pore structures in additively manufactured metal foam heat sinks for advanced passive thermal management systems.