Advanced manufacturing heat pipe segment with integral printed wick
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorsJeffrey Shoup, Clinton B. Armstrong
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A transition piece for joining heat pipe segments in a joining process is provided. The transition piece comprises a head section, a body section, a tail section and alignment tabs configured to facilitate a rotational alignment of an end of the body section and an end of a heat pipe segment during the joining process. The body section comprises a wick and an outer wall. Each of the alignment tabs comprises an end portion axially extending away from the body section. The body section and the alignment tabs are configured as an integral structure. A method for producing a transition piece of a heat pipe and a method for joining segments of a heat pipe are also provided.
Claims20
A transition piece for joining heat pipe segments in a joining process, the transition piece comprising:
- a head section comprising a first tubular segment, wherein the head section axially extends from a first end of the transition piece to a first axial position, wherein the first tubular segment is configured to interface with an end portion of a first heat pipe segment;
- a body section extending from a first end to a second end, the body section comprising:
- a wick comprising an outer surface, wherein the wick defines a cavity therein;
- and
- an outer wall comprising an inner surface enclosing the outer surface of the wick;
- and
- wherein the first end is positioned at the first axial position and the second end is positioned at a second axial position, and the inner surface of the outer wall and the outer surface of the wick are arranged to form a gap therebetween;
- a tail section comprising a second tubular segment, wherein the tail section axially extends from the second end of the body section to a second end of the transition piece, wherein the second tubular segment is configured to interface with an end portion of a second heat pipe segment;
- and
- alignment tabs configured to facilitate a rotational alignment of an end of the body section and an end of a heat pipe segment during the joining process, wherein each of the alignment tabs comprises an end portion axially extending away from the body section, and wherein the body section and the alignment tabs are configured as an integral structure.
A method for producing a transition piece of a heat pipe in a heat transfer system of a nuclear reactor, the method comprising:
- producing a first section of the transition piece, wherein the first section is configured to axially extend from a first end of the transition piece to a first axial position, wherein an inner portion of the first section is configured to interface with an end portion of a first heat pipe segment;
- forming a body of the transition piece with a forming process, the body comprising a wick enclosed by an outer wall, wherein an outer surface of the wick and an inner surface of the outer wall are arranged to form a gap therebetween, wherein the forming of the body comprises:
- forming a first end of the body at the first axial position;
- and
- extending the first end of the body to a second axial position;
- and
- forming a tail section of the transition piece, the forming of the tail section comprising axially extending the tail section away from the second axial position to a second end of the transition piece, wherein the tail section is configured to interface with an end portion of a second heat pipe segment.
A method for joining segments of a heat pipe in a nuclear reactor, the method comprising:
- joining a first end portion of a transition piece with an end portion of a first heat pipe segment;
- and
- joining a second end portion of the transition piece with an end portion of a second heat pipe segment to produce the heat pipe;
- and
- wherein each of the transition piece, the first heat pipe segment and the second heat pipe segment comprises an internal wick section, and wherein each of the internal wick sections are coupled to form a continuous wick section of the heat pipe.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.