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ISSN Druckformat: 2151-7975
ISSN Online: 2151-7991
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON START-UP BEHAVIOR OF MINIATURE LOOP HEAT PIPE CONSIDERING EFFECT OF GRAVITY
ABSTRAKT
Reliable start-up is a critical requirement for practical use of a loop heat pipe (LHP). Start-up failure reportedly tends to occur with low heat input power. The effect of gravity must be carefully considered when information obtained from ground experiments is used to predict the performance of an LHP under space flight conditions. However, no studies have experimentally investigated the relation between the initial vapor-liquid distribution in the evaporator and the start-up behavior of LHPs. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the LHP start-up behavior under various sink temperatures and heat inputs with three different orientations. We focused on the temporal change of the temperature at key points and judged the start-up with and without the temperature histories, to reclassify the start-up situation.