Experimentation and modeling of the steady-state and transient thermal performances of a helicoidally grooved cylindrical heat pipe

• Thermal performances of a cylindrical heat pipe including helicoidal and trapezoidal grooves are experimentally determined.
• Effects of the input power and the sink temperature are highlighted.
• A model of the transient heat pipe operation is proposed based on the lumped parameter analysis.

The thermal management of electronic components is one of the crucial problems in the electronics industry. Heat pipes are promising thermal devices which can be used in cooling systems. An experimental study is realized in order to determine the steady-state and transient thermal performances of a water filled copper cylindrical heat pipe including helicoidal and trapezoidal capillary grooves. A test rig is developed to determine the effects of various parameters on the heat pipe thermal performance. Experiments were carried out for different heat inputs and heat sink temperatures in steady-state and transient regimes. A model is developed in order to simulate the transient thermal response of such heat pipes. The model is based on RC network circuit. The thermal resistances are determined from the steady-state experiments and the thermal capacitances are calculated theoretically. The comparison between the experimental results and the simulated ones shows a good agreement whatever the heat sink temperature and the heat input power.