Heat Pipe Analysis Toolbox (H-PAT)

Heat Pipe Analysis Toolbox (H-PAT) estimates the heat pipe performance for given geometric properties and operating conditions

Developed by the collaborative effort of Middle East Technical University, I. D. Bilkent University and ASELSAN Inc., Heat Pipe Analysis Toolbox (H-PAT) estimates the heat pipe performance for given geometric properties and operating conditions by solving the fluid flow and heat transfer in a heat pipe for varying heat inputs up to the onset of dryout. It is a fast, yet accurate diagnosis and design tool thanks to its unique algorithm. Although the algorithm is able to calculate different wick types, only rectangular grooved wick is available in the first version.

The details of the modeling framework can be found in:

* S. Saygan, Y. Akkus, Z. Dursunkaya, B. Çetin (2022). Isı Bilimi ve Tekniği Dergisi- J. of Thermal Science and Technology, 42, 141-156 (doi.org/10.47480/isibted.1107492)

H-PAT was also adopted for bifurcated grooves:

* S. Saygan, Y. Akkus, Z. Dursunkaya, B. Çetin (2022). Capillary boosting for enhanced heat pipe performance through bifurcation of grooves: Numerical assessment and experimental validation. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer, 137, 106162

(doi.org/10.1016/j.icheatmasstransfer.2022.106162)

To get started, simply run "H-PAT.m". This will open the GUI of the toolbox. In the left column, you need to specify input parameters for the simulation. Several remarks are provided for the following input parameters:

-- Base thickness is the wall thickness between the wick and outer heat pipe surface.

-- Contact angle is the measure of wettability of the working liquid on the inner wick surface. This parameter should be provided by the user.

-- Thermal conductivity is the equivalent thermal conductivity of the wick and wall materials (solid) in the axial direction.

-- Heat sink, h, is the heat transfer coefficient between the heat sink surface of the heat pipe and the coolant environment.

After providing the inputs, hit the "RUN" button. Radius of curvature of liquid-vapor interface and wall temperature distributions appear in a single plot. Moreover, following outputs, including the effective thermal resistance that is widely used as an input parameter assigned to heat pipes in common CFD software, are provided:

-- T_max and T_min are maximum and minimum resultant temperatures, respectively.

-- Q_pc and Q_ax are the amount of heat transferred via phase change and axial conduction, respectively.

-- R_eff is the effective thermal resistance of the heat pipe defined as the ratio of temperature difference (T_max- T_min) to total heat input (Q_in).

-- k_eff is the effective thermal conductivity of the heat pipe defined with following formula:

(Q_in x L) / [A x (T_max- T_min)],

where L and A are the total length and complete cross-sectional area (without vapor region) of the heat pipe, respectively.

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