Study on flow and heat transfer characteristics of micro grooved ultra-thin plate heat pipe

Abstract Ultra-thin flat heat pipe is an effective means to solve the heat dissipation problem of thin electronic equipment due to its strong thermal conductivity and high stability in narrow space. In this paper, the VOF gas-liquid two-phase flow model of CFD software is used to numerically simulate the flow and heat transfer characteristics inside the micro-grooved ultra-thin flat heat pipe. The heat transfer performance test platform of the heat pipe is built, and the performance of the heat pipe is tested by considering different filling rates and different heating powers. The results show that the phase transition first occurs on the side of the heating surface of the evaporation section. The vapor on the wall of the condensation section condenses and forms a liquid film. The non-channel liquid will gather in the channel under the capillary force of the micro-groove and flow to the evaporation section. The 35% filling rate is the best filling rate of the micro-grooved ultra-thin flat heat pipe. At this time, the heat transfer efficiency is higher, which is consistent with the simulation results, and provides a valuable reference for the development and design of the ultra-thin flat heat pipe.