Experimental study on the heat transfer performance of heat pipe radiators with Diverse structural configurations for laser pump sources

•Experimentally studied performance of heat pipe radiators for laser pump source.•Analyzed six different structural types of heat pipe radiators.•Focused on surface average temperature, temperature uniformity, thermal resistance.•Adding a cover plate with fins in the evaporation section is the most cost-effective. With the continuous increase of laser power, the heat dissipation of laser pump sources is increasing rapidly. If effective cooling cannot be carried out, it will lead to local high temperatures, and even equipment damage. Due to simple design, high reliability, and effective heat dissipation capability, heat pipe radiators have received widespread attention. This paper experimentally studied the heat transfer performance of heat pipe radiators for laser pump sources and focused on analyzing the effects of inlet air velocity, heat source power, ambient temperature, and structural type on surface average temperature, temperature standard deviation, and total thermal resistance. Research has shown that as the heat power of the laser pump source increases, both the average surface temperature and the increase magnitude increase, but the temperature uniformity deteriorates. As the inlet air velocity increases, both the average surface temperature, temperature standard deviation and total thermal resistance show a decreasing trend, and the impact of air velocity on temperature uniformity becomes more significant at high heat power. When the inlet air velocity increases from 2 m/s to 6 m/s, the average surface temperature decreases by 10.2 % at heat power 300 W, and the maximum temperature standard deviation increases by 21.5 %. As the ambient temperature increases, the average surface temperature and the minimum starting power of the heat pipe radiator gradually increase, but the temperature standard deviation and total thermal resistance of the two-phase zone are not significantly affected. Adding evaporative section cover plate, increasing the number of fins in the evaporation and condensation sections are effective measures to improve the overall performance of heat pipe radiators, but changing the way the heat pipe inserted into the evaporator substrate or condenser fins has little effect.