Effects of one-sided heat input and removal on axially grooved heat pipe performance

The performance of an axially grooved heat pipe with one-sided heat input and removal was investigated analytically. Under zero-g condition the maximum heat transport of the pipe may decrease as much as 30% depending on the liquid slug behavior in the condenser section. In one-g environment the performance depends mainly on the fluid charge. The maximum heat transport, if over-charged, is almost equal to the value for uniform heating and cooling due to puddling effect. However, for some heater-cooler combinations the temperature drop across the heat pipe becomes very large. Computed results for tilted heat pipes compare favorably with available experimental data.