Open Access

ARTICLE

CONTACT ANGLE MEASUREMENTS FOR ADVANCED THERMAL MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGIES

Sally M. Smith^*, Brenton S. Taft^† , Jacob Moulton

Air Force Research Laboratory Space Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117, USA
* Currently at NASA Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, VA, 23337, USA
† Corresponding author. Email: afrl.rvsv@kirtland.af.mil

Frontiers in Heat and Mass Transfer 2014, 5, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.5098/hmt.5.6

Abstract

This study investigates the wettability of fluid-solid interactions of interest for oscillating heat pipe (OHP) applications. Measurements were taken using two techniques: the sessile drop method and capillary rise at a vertical plate. Tested surface materials include copper, aluminum, and Teflon PFA. The working fluids tested were water, acetone, R-134a, and HFO-1234yf. A novel low-pressure experimental setup was developed for refrigerant testing. Results show that the refrigerants have significantly lower hysteresis than the water and acetone-based systems, which is thought to lead to better heat transfer in OHP design.

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Keywords

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