Abstract: Plate-foam heat exchanger is developed on the basis of properties of open-cell metal foam. The short-term mechanical properties and long-term viscoelastic parameters of 316 stainless steel metal foam are measured in uniaxial tension experiments. Based on these parameters and small deflection thin plate theory, the plate-foam structure is simplified as a thin plate supported on the foundation. A computer program based on FORTRAN90 is developed by using the correspondence principle and the numerical inversion of Laplace transform. Then the viscoelastic bending deflection and stress of the plate-foam structure are analyzed. The feasibility and accuracy of the method are verified by a comparison of the analytical results with finite element simulations. The results show that the analytical solution is in good agreement with the numerical results. Furthermore, the effects of the structural parameters of the open-cell metal foam on the viscoelastic bending deflection and stress of the plate-foam structure are investigated. The results show that the relative density has a relatively great influence on the safety of the plate-foam structure.

Key words: Compact heat exchanger, Finite element, Metal foam, Numerical simulation, Open-cell foam, Viscoelasticity