Study on heat transfer characteristics and structural parameter effects of heat pipe with fins based on MOOSE platform

Abstract

The space reactor is the primary energy supply for future space vehicles and space stations. The radiator is one of the essential parts of a space reactor. Therefore, the research on radiators can improve the heat dissipation power, reduce the quality of radiators, and make the space reactor smaller. Based on MOOSE multi-physics numerical calculation platform, a simulation program for the combination of heat pipe and fin at the end of heat pipe radiator is developed. It is verified that the calculation result of this program is accurate and the calculation speed is fast. Analyze the heat transfer characteristics of the combination with heat pipe and fin, and obtain its internal temperature field. Based on the calculation results, the influence of structural parameters on the heat dissipation power is analyzed. The results show that when the fin width is 0.25 m, fin thickness is 0.002 m, condensing section length is 0.5425 m and heat pipe radius is 0.014 m, the power-mass ratio is the highest. When the temperature is 700K–900K, the heat dissipation power increases 41.12% for every 100K increase in the operating temperature. Smaller fin width and thinner fin thickness can improve the power-mass ratio and reduce the radiator quality.