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...
