Entrainment and interfacial stability in capillary-driven heat pipes /
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1993.
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | ProQuest, Abstract Link to OAKTrust copy |
| Abstract: | Entrainment phenomena in capillary-driven heat pipes were studied and both analytical and experimental approaches were utilized to identify and better understand the parameters that govern the entrainment of liquid in operating heat pipes. Two experimental investigations, i.e., an aerodynamic simulation and a heat pipe experiment, were conducted using an air-water test channel and a high power heat pipe, respectively. The air-water experiment was used to study the effects of the vapor velocity and wick dimensions on the entrainment phenomenon in heat pipes. The heat pipe experiment was designed to verify the existence of the various modes of entrainment and measure the corresponding entrainment limits. From the comparison of critical velocities obtained in these two experiments, the effectiveness of previous aerodynamic simulations (Ishii and Grolmes, 1975; Matveev et al., 1977) was examined. For both experiments, entrainment was detected by various methods and classified into representative types according to the relative position of the liquid interface to the wick structure and operating conditions. Results of the two experiments were compared with those obtained from previous investigations presented by Cotter (1967), Tien and Chung (1979) and Prenger and Kemme (1981), etc.. In addition, the entrainment limit data w ere theoretically verified using a computer model designed to predict the maximum performance for the given operating conditions. Finally, the entrainment phenomena observed in both the air-water and steam -water experiments were examined from a physical perspective using hydrodynamic instability theories (Kelvin, 1871; Jeffreys, 1926; Miles, 1960). |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | Vita. "Major subject: Mechanical Engineering." |
| Physical Description: | xxi, 288 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references. |