In order to study reasonable sintering technological parameters and appropriate copper powder size range of micro heat pipe (MHP) with the sintered wick, the forming principle of copper powders in wicks and MHP's heat transfer capabilities were first analyzed, then copper powders with different cell sizes and dispersions were sintered in RXL-12-11 resistance furnace under the protection of the hydrogen at different sintering temperatures for different durations of sintering time, and finally the sintered wicks' scanning electron microscope (SEM) images and their heat transfer capabilities were analyzed. The results indicate that the wick sintered with copper powders of larger cell size or smaller size range has better sintering properties and larger heat transfer capabilities; and that the increase of either sintering temperatures or sintering time also helps to improve the wick's sintering properties and heat transfer capabilities, and the former affects more obviously than the latter. Considering both its manufacturing cost and performance requirements, it is recommended that copper powders with the size range of 140-170 μm are sintered at 900-950℃ for 30-60 min in practical manufacturing. In addition, two approaches to improve wick's porosity are also proposed through theoretical analysis, which suggests that the larger the wick's porosity, the better the heat transfer capabilities of the MHP.
The high-speed oil-filled ball spinning and drawing process was put forward to manufacture the axially grooved heat pipe with highly efficient heat-transfer performance,and the forming mechanism of micro-grooves inside the pipe was investigated.The key factors influencing the configurations of micro-grooves were analyzed.When the spinning depth varies between 0.4 mm and 0.5 mm,drawing speed varies from 200 mm/min to 450 mm/min,rotary speed is beyond 6 000 r/min and working temperature is less than 50 ℃,the grooved tubes are formed with high quality and efficiency.The ball spinning process uses full oil-filling method to set up the steady dynamic oil-film that reduces the drawing force and improves the surface quality of grooved copper tube.
The quality of micro heat pipe(MHP) is strongly affected by sealing technology. Based on the analysis of requirements of sealing technology, a cold welding technology was presented to seal MHP. In the cold welding process, compression force was used to flatten micro groove copper(MGC) tube. Then the bonding of MGC tube was reached because of intensively plastic deformation of MGC tube under pressure. It is found that the plastic deformation area of the cold welding of MGC tube can be divided into three sections. The deformation of micro grooves in each section was investigated; the influence of the dimensions of cylindrical heads on the weld joint shape and strength was studied; and a comparison between smooth copper tube and MGC tube was done. The results show that a groove compression stage exists in the cold welding of MGC tube besides a flattened stage and a melting stage.
