Electrohydrodynamic Control of Thin Film Evaporative Heat Transfer in Micro Groove Arrays

摘要

Research has been conducted toward the development of electro- hydrodynamically (EHD) driven micro heat pipe arrays. This research has focused on the following: (1) Completion of the experimentation and analysis of EHD augmented micro heat pipe arrays using dielectrophoretic forces. (2) Development and analysis of ion-drag pumped micro heat pipe arrays. (3) Demonstrated active thermal control with ion-drag pumped micro heat pipe arrays for cyclic heat loadings in excess of 100 W/sq cm. The research has demonstrated that the forces induced via the ion-drag mechanism can be appreciably greater than by the dielectrophoretic effect, i.e., force induced as a result of an electric field present at a liquid-vapor interface. Moreover, because the ion-drag force can be generated within the heat pipe fluid at any location, the localized electric field can be better isolated from the heat source. In the case of electronics cooling, this is particularly critical.