Phase change flattening process for axial grooved heat pipe

A novel processing technique named phase change flattening process has been developed to fabricate the flattened grooved heat pipes, which are in high demand for electronics cooling. The phase change vapor pressure in the flattened heat pipe is analyzed on the basis of its operating principle. An elasto-plastic FEM simulation is proposed to analyze stress and strain distribution for the flattening process. An experiment is also set up to verify this elasto-plastic deformation of axial grooved heat pipe (AGHP). Results show that the vapor pressure is determined by the saturated vapor pressure equation of heat pipe. Punch load of the upper plate greatly increases due to its higher vapor pressure and the buckling phenomenon can be well eliminated when the vapor pressure reaches 1.002 MPa at vapor temperature 453 K. The maximum equivalent plastic stress and strain distribute on the maximum bend points at the bending wall of heat pipe when the punch stroke is over 3 mm. The width, vapor area and grooves of flattened heat pipe change greatly as the flattening proceeds.