Contributed by the Fluids Engineering Division of THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. Manuscript received by the Fluids Engineering Division October 27, 2000; revised manuscript received May 21, 2001. Associate Editor: L. Mondy.
The necessity for fundamental investigations in forced convection through porous media by fluids with temperature-dependent viscosity cannot be overstated once we take into account the lack of information on this subject 1 2. Apart from the fundamental nature of the problem, which merits its study, many contemporary applications involving convection of fluids with temperature-dependent viscosity are hampered by this lack of understanding.
One specific application is the new microporous enhanced cold-plate design for cooling avionics 3, specifically airborne, military, phased-array radar slats. This cold-plate operates using poly-alpha-olefin oil as coolant. Poly-alpha-olefins (PAO), a class of synthetic oils commonly used in cooling military avionics, has viscosity strongly dependent on temperature. Suitability of a particular porous...
