Thin Loop Heat Pipe Structure With Porous Capillary Flow Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional loop heat pipes face challenges in being made thin while maintaining appropriate strength and fluidity of the working fluid.
Innovation Solution
The loop heat pipe design incorporates a structure with a limited number of laminated metal layers, featuring a porous body within the liquid pipe and evaporator, where the intermediate metal layer has a specific arrangement of bottomed holes and cavities to enhance capillary force and prevent backflow, allowing for a thinner design without compromising strength or fluidity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the loop heat pipe is made thinner, then the compactness is improved, but the strength and fluidity of the working fluid deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies porous materials by forming a porous body within the liquid pipe that extends along its length. This porous body has capillary pores that generate capillary force to drive the working fluid through the liquid pipe, enabling the pipe wall to be made thinner while maintaining sufficient fluid transport capability. The porous structure provides both mechanical support and fluid transport function, resolving the contradiction between thinness and fluidity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite material structure by combining a solid pipe wall with a porous body made of porous material. The pipe wall provides mechanical strength while the porous body provides fluid transport capability. This composite approach allows the overall structure to be thinner while maintaining both strength and fluidity, as each component performs its specialized function.
2Length of moving object
If the loop heat pipe is made thinner, then the compactness is improved, but the fluidity of the working fluid deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The porous body made of porous material provides capillary pores that generate capillary force to drive the working fluid through the liquid pipe. This capillary action ensures sufficient fluidity and working fluid transport even when the pipe wall is made thinner, as the porous structure creates effective fluid transport pathways without requiring thick walls.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by concentrating the fluid transport function in the porous body region while the pipe wall provides structural support. The porous body is strategically positioned within the liquid pipe to create localized capillary force generation zones, ensuring efficient fluid transport in specific critical areas without requiring the entire structure to be thick.
3Force
If the porous body is made with more pores, then the capillary force is improved, but the structural strength deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses porous materials with optimized pore structures that balance capillary force generation with structural integrity. The porous body is made of porous material with controlled porosity and pore size distribution, ensuring sufficient capillary force while maintaining the structural strength needed to support the thinner overall pipe structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite structure of pipe wall plus porous body allows separation of functions: the pipe wall provides structural strength while the porous body provides capillary force. This division enables the porous body to have optimized pore structures for maximum capillary force without compromising overall structural strength, as the pipe wall compensates for any strength reduction in the porous region.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enables the creation of a thinner loop heat pipe that effectively maintains the necessary strength and fluidity of the working fluid, preventing vapor backflow and ensuring efficient heat transfer.
Implementation Method 1
a porous body is provided inside the evaporator and the liquid pipe of the loop heat pipe, and the working fluid inside the liquid pipe is guided to the evaporator due to a capillary force generated in the porous body
Implementation Method 2
an evaporator that vaporizes the working fluid by the heat of the heat-generating component
Implementation Method 3
vaporizes the working fluid by the heat of the heat-generating component
Implementation Method 4
a condenser that liquefies the vaporized working fluid
Data Source
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AI summary
A loop heat pipe includes a pair of outermost metal layers, an intermediate metal layer provided between the pair of outermost metal layers, an evaporator, a condenser, a liquid pipe and a vapor pipe connecting the evaporator and the condenser and forming a loop shaped passage. The intermediate metal layer includes a pair of walls forming a part of a pipe wall of the evaporator, the condenser, the liquid pipe, and the vapor pipe, and a porous body provided between the pair of walls. The intermediate metal layer includes a first surface opposing one of the pair of outermost metal layers, and a plurality of first cavities, and a first projection between mutually adjacent first cavities, respectively formed at the first surface between the pair of walls. A first gap is formed between the first projection and the one of the pair of outermost metal layers.