Sensitivity and optimization analysis of thermal-hydraulic performance of a metal foam coated airfoil tube crossflow heat exchanger

This study investigates the thermal–hydraulic performance optimization of a novel heat exchanger design featuring metal foam-coated airfoil tubes in crossflow configuration. Heat exchanger efficiency enhancement remains a critical challenge across numerous industrial applications, with the competing objectives of maximizing heat transfer while minimizing pressure drop. The innovative aspect of this study lies in the strategic integration of metal foam coatings with aerodynamically efficient airfoil tube geometry, offering performance advantages unattainable by either approach independently. A comprehensive numerical investigation is conducted using computational fluid dynamics, with the model validated against experimental and numerical studies. Response Surface Methodology with space-filling Latin Hypercube Sampling is employed to efficiently explore the effect of design parameters on performance. Sensitivity analysis revealed that angle of attack, metal foam thickness, and permeability are the most significant parameters. Multi-objective optimization using Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm 2 (SPEA2) yielded optimal design configurations that effectively balance conflicting performance objectives. The optimized configuration achieved a 63.65% improvement in heat transfer rate while limiting pressure drop increase to only 17.68% compared to reference case. These findings demonstrate that the synergistic combination of airfoil geometry with permeable metal foam layers yields superior thermal–hydraulic trade-offs compared to conventional designs, offering significant practical benefits for thermal management systems where compactness, efficiency, and low pumping power are essential criteria.