Heat pipe wick with structural enhancement

摘要

Heat pipe wick structure wherein a stout sheet of perforated material overlays a high performance wick material such as stainless steel felt affixed to a substrate. The inventive structure provides a good flow path for working fluid while maintaining durability and structural stability independent of the structure (or lack of structure) associated with the wick material. In one described embodiment, a wick of randomly laid ~8 micron thickness stainless steel fibers is sintered to a metal substrate and a perforated metal overlay.