Assessment of Sintered Wick Heat Pipe Performance: Effect of Surface Morphology
Heat Transfer Engineering, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1080/01457632.2026.2734692
- Dergi Adı: Heat Transfer Engineering
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Chemical Abstracts Core, Compendex, INSPEC, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Engineering Source (EBSCO), Materials Science & Engineering Collection (ProQuest), Technology Collection (ProQuest)
- Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
This study presents a numerical model for sintered wick heat pipes that captures thin-film evaporation and condensation by idealizing interfacial amorphous cavities as spherical structures. Unlike methodologies that rely on empirical heat transfer coefficients, the model resolves local interface behavior and introduces the concept of nonfunctioning spherical cavities to characterize an esoteric partial dry-out phenomenon driven by contact-angle and geometry-dependent effects, possibly occurring in the entire phase change domain. A coupled flow-thermal framework is employed to predict liquid flow, interface shape, and heat transfer through both the wick and the substrate. The model is validated with both experiments and numerical studies, showing strong agreement in wall temperature predictions. Parametric analyses reveal that pore radius strongly influences both maximum heat load and temperature difference: smaller pores limit heat transport but maintain thinner films, while larger pores offer higher heat advection capacity at the cost of increased conduction resistance. Insights obtained provide practical design guidelines for optimizing wick microstructure to achieve improved thermal performance.