THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF
OSCILLATING HEAT PIPES WITH FEW TURNS

Yu. E. Dolgirev, Yu. F. Gerasimov, and A. V. Melkikh

UDC 536.58:536.248.2

A theoretical model of few-turn heat pipes is suggested. 
The equation for boiling liquid flow in a capillary of the pipe, which 
allows for the pressure difference of saturated vapor and for gravity 
and viscosity forces, is written. The parameters at which self-oscillations 
of the liquid occur have been estimated. It is shown that the period 
of self-oscillations is determined by the characteristic time of heat 
exchange between the liquid in the capillary and the surrounding medium. 
The time of self-oscillations obtained theoretically is in good agreement 
with the experimental one.

The Urals State Technical University, 19 Mir Str., Ekaterinburg, 
62002, Russia; dolgirev@dpt.ustu.ru. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii 
Zhurnal, Vol. 76, No. 5, pp. 37-40, September-October, 2003. 
Original article submitted October 1, 2002.