From Pore Geometry to Effective Properties: A Multiphysics Modelling Approach for AM Porous Structures
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The progress in Additive Manufacturing (AM) has enabled production of novel functionally optimized porous structures with unprecedented geometric complexity. These porous materials have high variety of properties such as high surface area, permeability, thermal conductivity and tortuosity that are important for a range of applications, particularly for chemical industry, rocket science and electronic applications. Traditional laboratory characterization of fluidic, thermal and mechanical properties is time-consuming and costly. This work demonstrates that scalable multiphysics simulations can serve for porous structures property prediction using geometrical digital twins. A workflow based on micro-CT imaging to analyse AM porous structures with and without predefined detailed geometry was developed. The methodology integrates high-fidelity geometric modelling at the pore scale using multiphysics simulation software, providing flow, thermal, capillary and structural characteristics of AM porous samples (pore scale) analysed by means of synchrotron micro-CT, and homogenization (continuum‑scale) of obtained porous material properties for further shape optimization approaches. This work establishes that multiphysics simulations provide an alternative or addition to the laboratory testing even for porous structures with complex geometry. It facilitates industrial applications with novel AM porous materials, reducing development costs, accelerating analysis and design, and enabling closed-loop design-manufacturing optimization.
