Numerical Simulation of Heat Transfer Performance for Ultra-Thin Flat Heat Pipe

The heat transfer performance of ultra-thin flat heat pipes with #180 copper mesh wick was studied by numerical simulation for different heating powers. The length, width and height of the ultra-thin flat heat pipe are 80 mm, 8.5 mm and 1 mm, respectively. The temperature distribution and flow characteristics of ultra-thin flat heat pipes were simulated by coupling porous media model and user-defined function (UDF) in FLUENT. To validate the accuracy of the numerical model, the simulation results of the ultra-thin flat heat pipe are compared with the experimental data in predicting the evaporation section temperature. The numerical model has good accuracy for the one-dimensional heat transfer method of ultra-thin flat heat pipes. The velocity, pressure drop of the wick and total temperature difference have the same variation trend. With the increase of heating power, the temperature difference of ultra-thin flat heat pipes increases, and the pressure drop and the liquid velocity in the wick also increase.