Numerical Simulation of Producing Aluminum Foam by Air Injecting and Melt Stirring
机械搅拌流场中制备闭孔泡沫铝过程的数值模拟

Production of aluminum foam by air injecting into molten aluminum composites under mechanical stirring has been investigated. A two-dimensional computational two-fluid model incorporated with the multi-reference frame method is used to predict the gas-liquid flow in a horizontally axial stirred vessel. Turbulence effect is simulated with a RNG k-e model. The influences of gas inlet velocity and impeller rotational speed on bubble rising velocity and local gas volumetric fraction are examined. Furthermore, volumetric average of total gas fraction is predicted by volume integration. Computational results show a qualitative agreement with experimental data from the literature.