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Completed TRL 2 (started at 2, targeting 3)
Robust and flexible thermal control systems (TCS) are necessary for maintaining electronic devices within operating temperatures, especially within microgravity environments. Oscillating heat pipes (OHP) have emerged as a low-weight, highly manufacturable technology for thermal management of high heat flux sources in spacecraft. They have been shown to display performance invariance to changes in orientation or gravity and can operate under a wide range of input heat flux and under exposure to multiple evaporators and condensers. However, due to complex internal phenomena, including two-phase capillary flow, liquid film growth, and nucleation, current models have limited predictive capacity for generalized OHP design. This results in an unclear understanding of the performance limits, outside of which the device will be nonoperational. The addition of conduction electrohydrodynamic (EHD) pumps to the OHP flow loop would enable greater control over internal behavior. A more deterministic flow may allow for significant improvements in heat transfer by overcoming passive operation limits or by tuning oscillation characteristics. Furthermore, by reducing flow variability and stochasticity, the predictive capacity of numerical models may greatly increase. The proposed work aims to prove the feasibility and performance enhancements of this active OHP (AOHP) by advancing understanding of the unique physics, characterizing performance, and building predictive tools to extrapolate results for future designs. During this research, the novel proposed device will be fabricated. Studies will be conducted on the effects of pumping to induce net unidirectional flow, alter the speed of slug flow between nucleation events, and control oscillation amplitude and frequency. Concurrently, existing computational models of OHPs will be augmented to include the effects of these new physics. The results from these efforts will inform state of the art ensemble Kalman filters to gain further insight into the unknown physical phenomena and create generalized models for prediction and optimization. Successful development of AOHP will mature this technology for future use within terrestrial and space applications, providing a competitive alternative to lower heat flux passive TCS and heavy or costly active TCS.
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