Fundamental Study of Vapor Chamber Thermal Control Devices for Space Applications

A vapor chamber with sintered cu powder was fabricated to investigate the detailed process of liquid-vapor behaviors towards critical heat flux conditions. Using NOVEC 7100 as a working fluid, the thermal performance of the vapor chamber was obtained for a 20 mm × 20 mm heating area, along with high-speed visualization of the liquid-vapor behaviors. The results indicated that the heat transfer was dominated by liquid film evaporation for low heat flux. On the other hand, for high heat flux, the heat transfer of bubble nucleation in the wick structure dominant.