Experimental investigation of a novel heat pipe cold plate for electronics cooling

In this study, to deal with multi-heat-source and high-heat-flux heat transfer problem in confined space within electronic equipments, cold plate equipment employing heat pipe technology has been designed. Acetone-aluminum heat pipe construction composed of 8 vertical pipes with their upper condensation section and lower evaporation section connected to let working liquid and vapor flow through each other when equipment works. Evaporation section of connective heat pipe construction is embedded in aluminum-made cold plate and cooling water flowing through water jacket cools condensation section of construction. Electronic-heating heat sources (16) are evenly arranged on two bigger vertical surfaces of cold plate to simulate heat generation of real array antennas and heat is eventually transferred to cooling water and then to outer environment. Heat pipe cold plate equipment has been formed and possesses excellent heat-transfer performance, startup performance and temperature evenness and can solve high heat-flux problem determining working reliability of array antennas effectively.