The effects of geometrical topology on fluid flow and thermal performance in Kagome cored sandwich panels

This study presents a systematic comparison of overall and local flow characteristics and heat transfer between two sandwich panels with single-layered Kagome and wire-woven bulk Kagome (WBK) cores under an identical porosity. Simulations are performed in the Reynolds number range of 3995–8710 by a verified SST turbulence model. The results reveal that the Kagome sandwich panel exhibits a 26–31% higher overall Nusselt number relative to the WBK sandwich panel with similar pressure drop, though the area-averaged Nusselt number on the ligaments of the Kagome panel is about 42% lower than that of the WBK panel. This is attributed to more high-momentum vortices and higher turbulent kinetic energy near the endwall in the Kagome panel compared to the WBK panel. This research indicates that the geometrical topology inside sandwich panels is important to induce stronger vortex flow close to heated endwalls for improving endwalls heat transfer behavior and overall thermal performance.