Hypersonic leading-edge heat pipe with porous wick, and methods of making and using the same

An aerospace vehicle leading-edge heat pipe comprising:

• (a) an envelope fabricated from a shell material forming a portion of the outer shell of the aerospace vehicle, wherein said envelope includes at least one edge with a radius of curvature of less than 12 mm, forming a leading edge of the aerospace vehicle, wherein said envelope has a thickness that increases with distance from said edge, wherein said envelope has an outer surface and an inner surface that encloses an interior cavity, and wherein said envelope includes, or is in thermal communication with, at least one heat-rejection surface;
• (b) a porous wick fabricated from a ceramic or metallic wick material, wherein said porous wick is configured within a first portion of said interior cavity, wherein at least a portion of said porous wick is adjacent to said inner surface, and wherein said porous wick has a bimodal pore distribution comprising an exterior wick region having an average capillary-pore size from about 0.2 microns to about 200 microns and a plurality of interior wick regions having an average high-flow pore size from about 100 microns to about 2 millimeters, wherein said average high-flow pore size is greater than said average capillary-pore size
• (c) a phase-change heat-transfer material contained within said porous wick.