Published 4 issues per year
ISSN Print: 2151-7975
ISSN Online: 2151-7991
DEVELOPMENT AND TEST OF A "TWO-PHASE" STRUCTURE
ABSTRACT
A novel thermal structure has been developed and tested by Astrium. This structure consists in an interconnected Heat Pipe network where liquid and vapor phases can flow in all branches of the network. The network consists in standard Heat Pipe profiles welded to capillary nodes. The nodes are produced owing to Additive Layer Manufacturing technique (ALM) which allows an easy and fast customization of the node. Heat Pipes and nodes are made in Aluminum alloy. Internal structure of the nodes is a mesh structure where liquid flows by capillarity with a central vapor conduit. Nodes can be in L, T, X or any other 2D and 3D shapes for Heat Pipe interconnections. A simulation model of the network has been developed and a two dimensional Heat Pipe network breadboard manufactured and tested. This paper describes the two-phase structures, the thermal simulation and the test results obtained with the breadboard. Future work and on-going developments conclude the paper.