Development of a loop heat pipe with the 3D printed stainless steel wick in the application of thermal management

Hu, Zhuohuan; Wang, Dongcheng; Xu, Jian; Zhang, Li

doi:10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2020.120258

Cited by 30 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Loop heat pipes (LHPs) are similar devices to HPs and employ the same capillary pumping process of working fluid as used in conventional HP but operate over much longer distances and/or against gravity by deploying a primary and secondary wick that is challenging to manufacture [26,[37][38][39]. Anderson et al constructed a cylindrical LHP utilising AM method where the casing, primary porous wick and secondary wick were manufactured in a single process eliminated knife-edge seal and bimetallic joints.…”

Section: Additive Manufacturing In Hpmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…AM technology controls and optimises the geometry of the internal passages (e.g., porosity and its form) of the wick aiming to achieve enhanced thermo-fluidic properties and improved thermal contacts and desired design according to the specified requirements. The wick structure could be easily controlled by an AM, eliminating the randomness of the internal structure [8,39]. Estarte et al (2017) constructed LHP with a primary wick fabricated using AM technology.…”

Section: Additive Manufacturing In Hpmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Additive Manufacturing as a Solution to Challenges Associated with Heat Pipe Production

Szymański

Mikielewicz

2022

Materials

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The aim of this review is to present the recent developments in heat pipe production, which respond to the current technical problems related to the wide implementation of this technology. A novel approach in HP manufacturing is to utilise hi-tech additive manufacturing techniques where the most complicated geometries are fabricated layer-by-layer directly from a digital file. This technology might be a solution to various challenges that exist in HP production, i.e., (1) manufacturing of complex or unusual geometries HPs; (2) manufacturing complicated and efficient homogenous wick structures with desired porosity, uniform pore sizes, permeability, thickness and where the pores are evenly distributed; (3) manufacturing a gravity friendly wick structures; (4) high customisation and production time; (5) high costs; (6) difficulties in the integration of the HP into a unit chassis that enables direct thermal management of heated element and decrease its total thermal resistance; (7) high weight and material use of the part; (8) difficulties in sealing; (9) deformation of the flat shape HPs caused by the high pressure and uneven distribution of stress in the casing, among others.

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Section: Additive Manufacturing In Hpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Additive Manufacturing In Hpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Additive Manufacturing as a Solution to Challenges Associated with Heat Pipe Production

Szymański

Mikielewicz

2022

Materials

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“…Nowadays, several laboratories endeavour to find a novel method of fabrication of wick or new materials which provide high capillary forces and high permeability or mass flow rate (e.g., additive manufacturing (AM)-colloquially known as 3D printing) [9][10][11][13][14][15], as these two design features are typically inhibitive of each other. AM is a very promising method of wick or LHP manufacturing; however, it is still costly and needs a lot of research to be conducted in this area.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influence of Loop Heat Pipe Evaporator Porous Structure Parameters and Charge on Its Effectiveness for Ethanol and Water as Working Fluids

2021

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This paper presents the results of experiments carried out on a specially designed experimental rig designed for the study of capillary pressure generated in the Loop Heat Pipe (LHP) evaporator. The commercially available porous structure made of sintered stainless steel constitutes the wick. Three different geometries of the porous wicks were tested, featuring the pore radius of 1, 3 and 7 µm. Ethanol and water as two different working fluids were tested at three different evaporator temperatures and three different installation charges. The paper firstly presents distributions of generated pressure in the LHP, indicating that the capillary pressure difference is generated in the porous structure. When installing with a wick that has a pore size of 1 μm and water as a working fluid, the pressure difference can reach up to 2.5 kPa at the installation charge of 65 mL. When installing with a wick that has a pore size of 1 μm and ethanol as a working fluid, the pressure difference can reach up to 2.1 kPa at the installation charge of 65 mL. The integral characteristics of the LHP were developed, namely, the mass flow rate vs. applied heat flux for both fluids. The results show that water offers larger pressure differences for developing the capillary pressure effect in the installation in comparison to ethanol. Additionally, this research presents the feasibility of manufacturing inexpensive LHPs with filter medium as a wick material and its influence on the LHP’s thermal performance.

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“…In addition to biomedical implants, porous structures also have applications in heat pipe and lightweight structures. Hu et al (2020) designed and manufactured the capillary wicks of a loop heat pipe via SLM technology. Their best evaporator thermal resistance and the heat transfer coefficient achieved were 0.031 K/W and 44,379 W/m 2 K, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Manufacturability analysis of extremely fine porous structures for selective laser melting process of Ti6Al4V alloy

Ding

Tan

Chen

et al. 2021

RPJ

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Purpose The manufacturability of extremely fine porous structures in the SLM process has rarely been investigated, leading to unpredicted manufacturing results and preventing steady medical or industrial application. The research objective is to find out the process limitation and key processing parameters for printing fine porous structures so as to give reference for design and manufacturing planning. Design/methodology/approach In metallic AM processes, the difficulty of geometric modeling and manufacturing of structures with pore sizes less than 350 μm exists. The manufacturability of porous structures in selective laser melting (SLM) has rarely been investigated, leading to unpredicted manufacturing results and preventing steady medical or industrial application. To solve this problem, a comprehensive experimental study was conducted to benchmark the manufacturability of the SLM process for extremely fine porous structures (less than 350 um and near a limitation of 100 um) and propose a manufacturing result evaluation method. Numerous porous structure samples were printed to help collect critical datasets for manufacturability analysis. Findings The results show that the SLM process can achieve an extreme fine feature with a diameter of 90 μm in stable process control, and the process parameters with their control strategies as well as the printing process planning have an important impact on the printing results. A statistical analysis reveals the implicit complex relations between the porous structure geometries and the SLM process parameter settings. Originality/value It is the first time to investigate the manufacturability of extremely fine porous structures of SLM. The method for manufacturability analysis and printing parameter control of fine porous structure are discussed.

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Development of a loop heat pipe with the 3D printed stainless steel wick in the application of thermal management

Cited by 30 publications

References 27 publications

Additive Manufacturing as a Solution to Challenges Associated with Heat Pipe Production

Additive Manufacturing as a Solution to Challenges Associated with Heat Pipe Production

The Influence of Loop Heat Pipe Evaporator Porous Structure Parameters and Charge on Its Effectiveness for Ethanol and Water as Working Fluids

Manufacturability analysis of extremely fine porous structures for selective laser melting process of Ti6Al4V alloy

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