Across-Gimbal and Miniaturized Cryogenic Loop Heat Pipes

摘要

This paper describes the development status of three advanced cryogenic loop heat pipes (CLHP) forrnsolving important problems in cryogenic integration. The three devices described herein are: (1) an across-gimbalrnCLHP; (2) a short transport length miniaturized CLHP; and (3) a long transport length miniaturized CLHP. The acrossgimbalrnCLHP, which is baselined for operation from 80-100 K with nitrogen, provides a low weight, low torque, highrnconductance solution for gimbaled cryogenic systems wishing to mount their cryocoolers off-gimbal. The shortrntransport length miniaturized CLHP, which is baselined for operation near 35 K with neon, combines localized thermalrntransport, flexibility, and thermal switching into one device that can be directly mounted to a cryocooler cold head andrna cryogenic component just a short distance (10-20 cm) away. The long transport length miniaturized CLHP, which isrnalso baselined for operation near 35 K with neon, adds to the capabilities of the short transport length miniaturizedrnCLHP by increasing the transport length to over 250 cm to meet cryogenic heat transport device requirements of futurernNASA and DoD spacecraft.