Influence of groove parameters on the thermal hydraulic performance of a composite porous vapor chamber: A numerical study

Composite porous vapor chamber (CPVC) with uniform radial grooves in the evaporator wick demonstrated good thermal hydraulic performance at high heat flux. To reveal the effects of groove parameters on the performance of CPVCs, the temperature, velocity and pressure distributions of CPVCs were analyzed based on a simplified numerical model. Qualitative and quantitative results indicated that (1) the influence of groove parameters were contradictory; larger parameter values could enhance the thermal performance and benefit the vapor flow, while smaller ones would facilitate the liquid circulation and reduce the maximum pressure drop; (2) the groove width and the number of grooves had more influence on the temperature and velocity distributions, while the effect of the diameter of the circular cavity on the maximum pressure drop was larger; (3) the performance of CPVCs could be obviously improved by adding a wick column at the center of the evaporator wick, which eliminated the risk of insufficient capillary pressure. The study potentially provides a practical engineering approach for the analysis of wicks with multi-artery channels, and a qualitative basis for determining appropriate groove parameters.