Multi-scale study on thermo-hydro-mechanical properties of deformable activated carbon foam during drying process

Abstract

Deformation of activated carbon foam (ACF) during drying process is commonly encountered in adsorption, energy storage, chemical reaction, and other applications. In this work, a comprehensive study on the thermo-hydro-mechanical characteristics of ACF was performed by experimental investigation, numerical study, and artificial neural network (ANN) prediction. Multi-scale deformations of ACF induced by drying process were observed by experiments. A special “scale effect” occurred indicating that the pore structure of ACF experienced a non-uniform deformation. A 3D pore scale thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) model was developed and solved by finite element method. Validation and comparisons between experiment and simulation revealed the mechanisms of deformations induced by drying. An artificial neural network trained on the fractal dimensions, closed pore ratio, and average pore throat diameter to provide a simple way to predict the shrinkage ratio and optimize the micro-morphology of ACF. The demarcation line which represents the stable shrinkage of ACF depends on the closed pore ratio and the average pore throat diameter to different extent. These insights support the efficient design and reliable utilization of ACF at multiple scales.