Heat transfer of thin flat heat pipes with gradually varied vapor–liquid channels

Abstract

The heat flow density is constantly increasing due to the growing demand for the integration and compaction of electronic devices. A sintered thin flat heat pipe (TFHP) is a typical device for managing the heat flux of highly integrated electronic circuits. Four different structures of the vapor–liquid flow channel architecture are designed in this work. Heat transfer performance tests of different TFHPs are carried out for different thermal powers. The surface temperature distribution and thermal resistance of the TFHP under different operating conditions are investigated. The experimental results show that the design of the vapor–liquid flow channel significantly impacts the TFHP’s heat transfer performance and that the wedge-shaped wick is better suited to the flow channel. The wedge-shaped wick has the lowest thermal resistance of 0.28 °C/W and the most elevated maximum thermal power of 22 W. The heat dispatch performance of the sintered wick TFHP is improved.