Theoretical and Lattice Monte Carlo analyses on thermal conduction in cellular metals

This work addresses the effective thermal conductivity of cellular metals. Analytical relations for upper and lower bonds are evaluated. Formulae for effective conductivities are developed for an accurate estimation. In addition, extensive thermal Lattice Monte Carlo analyses are performed on a range of geometries. Next to simplified model structures, real geometries are addressed that exhibit closed (thick-walled structures), interconnected (open-cell structures) or both types (thin-walled structures) of porosity. To this end, calculation models of the real materials were directly based on computed tomography (CT) data in order to achieve a high level of geometrical accuracy.