Numerical visualization of heat transfer in a vapor chamber

This paper describes the three-dimensional numerical simulation to visualize the thermal-fluid transport characteristics inside the vapor chamber. The computational domain is composed of three regions of a vapor, a liquid-wick and a solid wall, and it is placed between a small heat source and a large heat sink. The bottom of the vapor chamber receives the heat from the heat source, while the top is entirely cooled by the heat sink. The equations of continuity, motion and energy for each region are solved numerically with boundary conditions. From the numerical results, the vapor velocity, liquid velocity and temperature distributions inside the vapor chamber are clarified, and the operational characteristics of the vapor chamber are confirmed. The numerical visualization is expected to provide a new clue for optimizing and improving the vapor chamber.