Axially grooved heat pipes (AGHPs) have been used as heat transfer devices of spacecrafts. The AGHPs should be confirmed their thermal performance prior to the launch. When AGHPs are mounted on a spacecraft, the spacecraft is, in general, designed so that the heat pipes are oriented horizontality during the ground operation. In some cases, heat pipes are installed so that they work in re-flux mode (bottom heat or thermosiphon mode). In addition, the ground test carried out not only at room temperature but also at low temperature as in orbit (ex. in a thermal vacuum test). It is, therefore, necessary to understand the behavior of the heat pipe under the force of gravity at low temperature as well as at room temperature. We studied an Ω shape grooves AGHP. The dependences of the temperature and the tilt angle against the horizontal plane were investigated. The temperature oscillations were observed depending on the tilt angle and surrounding temperature.
展开▼