Pulsating & Oscillating Heat Transfer Devices in Acceleration Environments from Microgravity to Supergravity 2001-01-2240

The work described was done during a five months stay as visiting professor at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, in Sagamihara, Japan. The research concentrates on pulsating and oscillating heat transfer devices, being of interest for applications in spacecraft thermal control in microgravity, in planetary partial gravity and hypergravity environment, and hypergravity acceleration levels in rotating spacecraft. Different aspects of various heat transfer devices in gravity environments ranging from micro-gravity to super-gravity are discussed. An overview is given of worldwide activities on and the state of the art of pulsating and oscillating heat transfer devices, in an attempt to assess commonalities and differences. Following the outcomes of this assessment, a baseline philosophy for modelling and for comparison of experimental data was defined, in order to anticipate an easy comparison with the results of ongoing and future research activities.

In addition a versatile test set-up was defined and developed such that it allows the variation of almost all the relevant parameters. The latter parameters are: Working fluid and fill charge, power, transport length, inclination with respect to the gravity vector, and the possibility to choose either the dead-end pulsating or the closed-loop oscillating configuration.