2. Oscillating heat pipes

An oscillating heat pipe is a passive two-phase transfer system consisting of several interconnected loops originating from a single smooth tube of capillary dimension (figure 16 ).

This tube is partially filled with a heat transfer fluid that naturally takes the form of a succession of vapor bubbles and liquid plugs. This phase separation is mainly the result of surface tension forces. When the oscillating heat pipe is heated at one end and cooled at the other, the resulting temperature differences generate both temporal and spatial pressure fluctuations, themselves associated with the generation...