Experimental Analysis of Heat Transfer Behavior inside Heat Pipe Integrated with Cooling Plates

Chen-Ching Ting, Chien-Chih Chen

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DOI: 10.4236/eng.2011.39118                

Abstract

This work used experimental methods to study heat transfer behavior inside a heat pipe and found that heat transfer behavior inside the heat pipe was changed due to its integration with cooling plates. This change caused the heat pipe to have copper-like heat transfer behavior. Experimental performances first built a CPU simulator with maximum heat power 300 W in accordance with the ASTM standard as heat source and measured temperature distribution by using infrared thermography and thermocouple thermometer. Observation of heat transfer behavior inside heat pipe influenced by its integration with cooling plates used color schlieren technique. A commercial CPU heat pipe cooler was also used as reference object in this work. Integration of the heat pipe with cooling plates causes the heat pipe to have the copper-like heat transfer behavior. The results indicate that rebuilding the bare heat pipe’s heat transfer behavior is the best solution for improving cooling efficiency of the heat pipe cooler.

Keywords

Heat Transfer Behavior, Heat Pipe, Color Schlieren, Infrared Thermography, Heat Pipe Cooler

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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