Influences of copper columns on thermal hydraulic performance of the vapor chamber

A simplified and efficient hydrothermal model was adapted and validated with both the experiment and literature data to further investigate the mechanism and influence of different columns on thermal performance of the vapor chamber (VC). The experiment was conducted by testing a T-shaped VC under different heat loads, and the maximum error with the numerical model was about 2 K. Factors including column dimension, column number and column structures were analyzed. Results show that sintered wick ring layer could provide auxiliary liquid circulation paths, reduce the pressure drop in the fluid circulation, and provide additional heat conductive passages. The column dimension shows enhancement on heat transfer capability of VC as the area ratio in the range of 0~0.5, with a maximum decrease by about 6.45% of the thermal resistance compared with the void VC. By comparing with other column structures, copper columns with sintered wick rings were found to the optimal type for enhancing the thermal performance of VC.