An Additively Manufactured Evaporator with Integrated Porous Structures for Two-Phase Thermal Control

A novel additively manufactured evaporator has been developed for a two-phase mechanically pumped fluid loop for thermal control. The evaporator incorporates porous wicking elements and non-porous structural/sealing elements in a monolithic structure. The design is enabled by additive manufacturing, which allows for geometries of both wicking and solid material that are not possible with classical manufacturing techniques. The evaporator has been designed for use in a hybrid mechanically pumped Loop Heat Pipe (LHP). The evaporator has the same basic layout as an LHP evaporator with a liquid and vapor space that are separated by a porous wick. Two prototype evaporators are described, and the performance of one of the prototype evaporators is cursorily evaluated using an FC-72 hybrid mechanically pumped LHP. The functionality and potential of this type of evaporator is demonstrated.