Effect of Sintering Temperature and Time in Nickel Wick for Loop Heat Pipe with Flat Evaporator

Abstract

This paper specifically addresses the effect of changing the constant temperature region of the sintering temperature curve in manufacturing nickel powder capillary structure (wick) on the performance of a flat loop heat pipe (FLHP). The sintering temperature curve is composed of three regions: a region of increasing temperature, a region of constant temperature, and a region of decreasing temperature, with the sintering time and temperature in the region of constant temperature having significant effect on the permeability of the wick. In this study, for wick manufacturing the temperatures in this region tested range from 550°C to 650°C and the time from 30 minutes to 60 minutes. The properties and internal parameters of the wick are measured, and the wick is placed into FLHP for performance testing. Experimental results show that at sintering temperature of 550°C and lasting about 45 minutes, maximum heat load is 200W, minimum thermal resistance is 0.32°C/W, permeability is , porosity is 66%, effective porosity is 3.8and heat flux is around 21W/cm2; related literatures have only reported maximum heat load increase of 25%.