• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.15 no.8
• /
• pp.4763-4768
• /
• 2014

Recently, aluminum pipes have been used instead of steel pipes for open and shut machines in vinyl housing because of its corrosion-resistance and light weight. In particular, the light weight is very useful for fitting and removal by human resources. On the other hand, an aluminum pipe is weak in winter because aluminum has a larger thermal expansion coefficient than steel. This study examined the freezing and bursting of aluminum pipes by numerical analysis. The mechanical-thermal deformation characteristics were analyzed under the condition of ice volumetric expansion in aluminum pipes reaching 50%. From numerical analysis, large stresses above the yield stress occurred in aluminum pipe after ice expanded in the net diameter immediately. In addition, the freezing and bursting of aluminum pipes was predicted around an ice volumetric expansion of 6 - 7% because the thickness of the aluminum pipe reached an aluminum elongation ratio of 17%. Therefore, it is recommended that aluminum pipes be sealed perfectly to prevent water flow in the pipe. These results suggest that it is very difficult to prevent freezing and bursting of aluminum pipes by water freezing in the pipe.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.11
• /
• pp.915-922
• /
• 2006

Considering heat pipe design principles in fabrication and operational performances, water is one of the most recommended working fluids to make mid to low tempera lure heat pipes. But the conventional water heat pipes might encounter the failure in a cold start-up operation when socked at a chilling temperature lower than the freezing point. If they are subjected to a heat supply for start-up at a temperature around $-20^{\circ}C$, the rate of the vapor flow and the corresponding heat transfer from the evaporator to the condenser is so small that the vapor keeps to stick on the surface of the chilling condenser wall, forming an ice layer, resulting in a liquid deficiency in the evaporator. This kind of problems was resolved by Kang et al. in 2004 by adopting a gas loading heat pipe technology to the conventional water heat pipes. This study was conducted to examine a chilling start-up procedure of gas loading heat pipes by investigating the behaviors of heat pipe wall temperatures. And the thermal resistance of the gas loaded heat pipe that depends on the operating temperatures and heat loads was measured and examined. Two water heat pipes were designed and fabricated for the comparison of performances, one conventional and the other loaded with $N_2$ gas. They were put on start-up test at a heat supply of 30 W after having been socked at an initial temperature around $-20^{\circ}C$. It was observed that the gas loaded one had succeeded in chilling start-up operation.