Effect of Tesla-valve-structure wicks on the start-up performance of loop heat pipes
Due to the limited manufacture precision of the current 3D printer,the aperture diameter of the wick is about 300μm.Consequently,steam will penetrate into the compensation chamber through the wick during the initial stage of the loop heat pipe(LHP)start-up process,resulting in severe heat leakage which contributes to a prolonged start-up.To prevent steam penetration through the wick,a newly-developed Tesla-valve-structure with unidirectional flow characteristics was introduced into the design of a 3D-printed wick.In this paper,a Tesla valve channel capillary with a diameter of 300μm were fabricated,and the permeability and start-up performance were compared with that of a cylindrical through hole capillary with the same diameter at different low heat loads.The result showed that the permeabilities of the Tesla-valve-structure wick with two placement directions were of obvious difference,exhibiting an obvious unidirectional flow characteristic,which indicated that the permeability of forward flow was greater than reverse flow under the condition of varies heating power,and the Tesla-valve-structure wick could effectively inhibit steam penetration and achieve a faster start-up.While the heat load increased,the LHP had a faster start-up process,the steam penetration was obviously suppressed by the Tesla-valve-structure wick,which could lead to a better starting performance.
Tesla valve3D printedwickloop heat pipeheat transfer performance
万方数据
维普
