Investigation of Vapour Chamber Performance with a Concentrated Heat Source

This work aims to characterize the performance of a commercially available solid heat sink (SHS) and a vapour chamber heat sink (VCHS) with a small localized heat source. The heat sinks were tested under forced convection conditions in a dedicated wind tunnel. Heat transfer and temperature measurements facilitated the estimation of the source-to-sink thermal resistance whilst thermal imaging on the air side of the heat sink was used to gauge the level of heat spreading. The results indicate that the VCHS was capable of spreading the heat from the localized source over a greater surface area of the heat sink compared with the SHS. However, the improved spreading resistance of the VCHS was offset by the additional contact resistance and/or the thermal resistance of the internal wick structure resulting in a source-to-sink thermal resistance and heater temperature which was commensurate with the SHS. As a result there was no thermal benefit of the VCHS.