Oscillating Heat Pipe with Flushing Ducts for Powder Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Additive manufacturing of oscillating heat pipe (OHP) devices often results in microchannels with residual powder, leading to obstructions and increased viscous losses, which negatively affect the operation and functionality of the OHP devices.
Innovation Solution
The OHP device is designed with open-ended channels and a flushing duct system that allows for the removal of residual powder, featuring a chamfered geometry for easy welding to create a hermetic seal after flushing, ensuring the channels are clear and sealed.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If additive manufacturing is used to fabricate OHP devices, then manufacturing complexity is reduced and production efficiency is improved, but residual powder remains in microchannels causing obstructions and increased viscous losses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates flushing ducts and open ends during the additive manufacturing process itself, enabling powder removal before the device is finalized. This preliminary action prevents powder obstructions from affecting device operation, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing efficiency and powder-related harmful effects.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs external flushing ducts that extract residual powder from the microchannels through open ends. By providing a dedicated extraction path for powder removal, the system eliminates the harmful effects of residual powder while maintaining the manufacturing advantages of additive fabrication.
2Reliability
If microchannels are sealed after additive manufacturing, then device functionality is improved, but residual powder trapped inside causes blockages and reduced cooling efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables sealing to occur after powder removal by providing flushing ducts with open ends that allow powder extraction before the final sealing operation. This sequence ensures channels are clear of obstructions before sealing, resolving the contradiction between reliability and cooling efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The flushing ducts serve as an intermediary mechanism that facilitates powder removal before sealing. These ducts provide a temporary access path for powder extraction, enabling both effective sealing and maintained cooling efficiency by ensuring channels are clear of obstructions.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If flush ports are added to remove powder, then channel clarity is improved, but device complexity increases due to additional welding requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the flushing duct structure with the main body through additive manufacturing, creating an integrated design that reduces the number of separate components. While welding is still required to seal the flush ports, the integrated design minimizes additional complexity compared to adding separate powder removal systems.
Data Source
AI summary
An oscillating heat pipe (OHP) device that comprise a body having a top face, a bottom face and at least one side face, a plurality of hollow OHP channels formed internally within the body, and an oscillating heat pipe (OHP) flushing duct system. The flushing duct system is formed in at least one of a body top face, a bottom face and at least one side face of an OHP device. The flushing duct system fluidly connects one or more of a plurality of OHP channels formed internally within the OHP device to an ambient environment of the device. The flushing duct system comprising at least one welding receptacle.