Experimental Study of an Airfoil Heat Pipe Subjected to an Impingement of Hot Gases

An experimental study was performed to an airfoil heat pipe. The airfoil was subjected to a jet impingement of hot gases at the leading edge. The airfoil was also tested first with air and later with water as the working fluid. The experimental result shown that the heat pipe spread better the heat input from the leading edge at very high heat input rate than the air filled airfoil design. The case material was brass, the porous media was nickel foam with 1.70 mm thickness and average pore size of 590 × 10⁻⁶ m. Distilled water was used as the working fluid. The experimental data indicate the proposed design can reduce the temperature at the leading edge surface. The temperature reduction in the leading edge airfoil heat pipe was approximately 33 percent compared with the air filled airfoil. The phase change mechanism inside the heat pipe was the key factor to spread better the localized energy input and thus reducing the temperature distribution on the leading edge.