ISSN Online: 2377-424X
ISBN Print: 978-1-56700-474-8
ISBN Online: 978-1-56700-473-1
International Heat Transfer Conference 16
EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON CAPILLARY PERFORMANCE OF MICRO/NANO SCALE SINTERED WICKS
摘要
To improve capillary performance, twenty kinds of porous wicks were sintered with copper powder as
material and sodium carbonate as pore former. Capillary rise height was measured and watched by infrared
imaging method with an infrared thermal imager and a high speed camera, using water as working fluid.
Comprehensive effects of particle diameters (d=556 nm-73.8 μm) and pore former proportions (β=0-0.4) were investigated. The results show both particle diameters and pore former proportions have effects on capillary rise height. Micron particles have higher capillary rise height than nano-particles. Capillary
performance of wicks can be enhanced by adding a certain amount of sodium carbonate to change internal
structures of wicks during the sintering process. Different particle diameters correspond to an optimum pore
former proportion which decreases with increasing particle diameters. There is a best matching relationship
between powder particle diameters and pore former proportions. For wicks with d=38.8 μm and β=0.2 the maximum capillary rise height can reach 536 mm.