Abstract: Based on the complexity of the three-dimensional structure of foam metal, the research progress of flow and heat transfer performance in foam metal heat exchangers in recent years is discussed from three aspects:theoretical analysis, experimental research and numerical simulation.Based on the fluid dynamics and heat and mass transfer theory of porous media, the research progress, resistance characteristics and heat transfer characteristics of heat transfer performance of metal foam heat exchangers and their effects on heat transfer performance of heat exchangers are described.The mechanism of heat transfer enhancement of foam metal and its influence on flow and heat transfer performance are analyzed together with metal model.And we proposed to refine the pore size of foam metal and improve the foam metal model, the development trend to study the use of foam metal for heat exchangers is also discussed.