Abstract
In this study, to make an excellent heat pipe, the manufacturing technology of a sintered wick was investigated. Making a sintered wick is known to be very difficult but it has many advantages. For example, the porosity and pore size can be controlled and the capillary force is great. The mixture of copper and pore former powder was used as a wick material and ceramic-coated stainless steel was used as a mandrel which is necessary for vapor flow. To analyze the feature of the manufactured wick, not only porosity and pore size were measured but also the sintered structure was observed. A heat pipe with sintered wick was manufactured and the performance test of the heat pipe was performed in order to review cooling performance. The performance test results for the 4mm diameter heat pipe with the sintered wick shows the stability since the temperature difference between a evaporator and a condenser of the heat pipe is less than 4.4$^{\circ}C$, and thermal resistance is less than 0.7$^{\circ}C$/W, In the meantime the composite wick that is composed with sintered and woven wire was also examined. The heat transfer limit of the heat pipe with composite wick was enhanced about 51%~60% compare to the one with sintered wick.