Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) Simulations of Liquid Steel Infiltration in Ceramic Foam Structures. Part I: Fundamentals and Validation

The infiltration of liquid TRIP steel into a porous zirconium dioxide foam ceramics is a possible production line for a new composite material. This composite is currently under investigation in a joint research project, which should explore the basic features and possible designs of the new material. The paper presents a pore‐scale model for the numerical simulation of the infiltration process. Such simulations should help to develop optimised production processes for the composite. The qualitative and quantitative performance of the model is evaluated by comparison of simulation results with data from corresponding water model experiments. Good agreement between the numerical and the experimental results is found.