Efficiency of a constant area, adiabatic TIP, heat-pipe FIN

The efficiency of a solid, constant-area (standard) fin and a geometrically similar fin with an internal heat pipe (heat-pipe fin) were investigated. Analytical expressions for heatpipe fin temperature distribution and efficiency were derived for the case where the heat pipe is extended (embedded) into the object being cooled. These results are compared to the case where the heat pipe is simply butted up against the object. It is found that embedding the heat pipe into the object increases the fin efficiency. These results are useful for comparing heat-pipe fins to standard fins. They provide a simple method of evaluating the feasibility of using heat-pipe fins in an application before more expensive and time consuming heat-pipe design methods are used. Also, experiments are conducted to validate the accuracy of the analytical results. Both the embedded and butted heat-pipe fin cases are studied. Within, the uncertainty of experimental data, the analytical and empirical data yield the same results.