Design, cfd analysis and comparison of tapered heat pipe

Abstract

A heat pipe is a form of heat exchanger that is used to transmit heat from one end to another end. By incorporating an evaporation-condensation system cycle, a Tapered heat pipe can transport heat by capillary action. Heat pipe is comprised of three segments: Adiabatic, Evaporator, and Condenser. Condenser section (D) diameter is bigger than evaporator section (d) diameter in a tapered heat pipe design, allowing for an increase in vapor volume. The investigation deals with the design and CFD analysis of Tapered heat pipe will be performed. From the existing experimental data, the numerical analysis on tapered heat pipe is performed. In this numerical analysis the different D/d ratios are considered i.e., 1,2,3 and 4. Heat input values considered are 20 Watt and 50 Watt for all the D/d ratios. On investigating the tapered heat pipe for different D/d ratios we observed approximately 12% variation between existing experimental results and numerical results. A large variation in heat transfer coefficient in higher D/d ratios at higher temperatures are observed. At lower temperatures the variation of heat transfer coefficient along the D/d ratios is neglectable. These higher heat transfer coefficients of the tapered heat pipe are best suitable for cooling electrical components such as CPUs, circuit boards and transistors. In the present world of electric vehicles, the tapered heat pipe can also be used battery thermal management systems.