Pool Boiling Performance of a Sintered Aluminum Powder Wick for a Lightweight Vapor Chamber

Abstract

Aluminum vapor chambers have become an important component used to solve heat dissipation problems in lightweight applications due to their low density and good heat transfer characteristics. In this paper, a new sintered aluminum powder wick is provided for an aluminum vapor chamber. An aluminum porous wick was sintered using liquid phase sintering technology. Using acetone as the working medium, the influence of the structural parameters of the aluminum wick on its boiling heat transfer performance was studied. The influence of thickness on the boiling heat transfer performance of a sintered porous wick is particularly significant. Thinner, porous wicks have better critical heat flux (CHF). The porosity and particle diameter mainly affect the heat transfer coefficient (HTC). At a low heat flux, the sintered wick with low porosity and a small particle diameter has a higher HTC. The HTC of porous wicks, with a larger particle diameter and porosity, decreases slower. The optimal porosity ranges from 46.4 ± 2.5% to 51.8 ± 2.5%. Compared with the polished aluminum plate, the CHF is increased by 1.7 times, and the HTC is increased by about 4.6 times under the same heat flux.