Evaluation on capillary performance of multifunctional ultra-thin composite wick

Abstract

Vapor chamber technology offers an effective solution for addressing challenges in battery thermal management due to its superior heat transfer efficiency per unit volume. However, achieving a lightweight and ultra-thin VC, which relies significantly on the wick structure, is crucial for its practical application. Nonetheless, reducing the thickness of the wick compromises its capillary performance, thereby impacting the thermal performance of the VC. To overcome this challenge, this paper proposes a Multifunctional Ultra-Thin Composite Wick (MUTCW) which is an integration of cover shell and wicks, aimed at enhancing capillary properties while simultaneously reducing wick thickness. A series of capillary rate-of-rise experiments were conducted to comprehensively evaluate the performance of the MUTCW. The results demonstrate that a MUTCW sintered with a 0.1 mm #200 mesh layer exhibits the most favorable capillary performance, with a wick coefficient of 19.299, an average capillary velocity of 3.5 mm/s, and an average mass flow rate of 3.32 mg/s.