Numerical Simulation of Flow and Heat Transfer of 3D-printed Titanium Alloy Wick

As a key component in the loop heat pipe,the flow and heat transfer characteristics of the wick determine the performance of the entire loop heat pipe.At present,the common homogeneous wicks in the loop heat pipe include sintered powder wicks,groove,ceramic wicks,etc.With the development of 3D-printed technology,3D-printed wicks have begun to be applied to the loop heat pipe.As a new type of wick structure,3D-printed wick has been barely investigated so far.In this paper,the flow and heat transfer characteristics of 3D-printed titanium alloy wick was numerically simulated by means of VOF method and LEE model.The simulation results agreed well with the experiment results in heat flux of 1.95W and 2.96 W.The 2D simulation of the wick showed the temperature of the wick did not depend solely on the heat flux,but on the two heat transfer mechanisms occurring on the surface of the wick,namely the capillary evaporation mechanism and the heat conduction mechanism.