Analysis of heat transfer performance and vapor-liquid meniscus shape of ultra-thin vapor chamber with supporting columns

Establishing the theoretical analysis model of vapor chamber is helpful to predict its heat transfer performance. It provides a valuable reference for heat transfer enhancement and structural design of ultra-thin vapor chamber (UTVC). In this paper, a theoretical analysis model of ultra-thin vapor chamber with supporting columns is established. This model considers the influence of supporting columns on vapor flow and the Marangoni effect on liquid flow and gives the analytical solution of temperature distribution and heat transfer limit of the UTVC. The accuracy of the model is verified by experiments. Compared with the experimental results, the maximum error of theoretical heat transfer limit is less than 10%. The meniscus shape under different heating power is displayed. The effects of key parameters such as the vapor space thickness, wick thickness, and the supporting columns arrangement on the heat transfer performance of the UTVC are analyzed. According to the theoretical analysis model, the critical thickness of vapor space is 0.3 mm. Thinning the wick thickness improves the uniformity of temperature. In addition, reducing the number of supporting columns on the flow section can effectively improve the heat transfer limit of UTVC.