Experimental investigation on an aluminum oscillating heat pipe charged with water

Highlights: • The first aluminum-water OHP was fabricated successfully. • The chemical chrome plating surface treatment is an effective method to fabricate the aluminum-water OHP. • Thermal performance of the aluminum-water OHP is stable at least in five weeks. -- Abstract: It is well known that aluminum and water is not compatible in a high temperature environment. Generally, water cannot be used as working fluid in a heat pipe fabricated with aluminum. In the current research, the inner surface of an aluminum oscillating heat pipe (OHP) was modified by chemical chrome plating. A chrome coating was formed in the inner surface of the OHP. Then, water can serve as the working fluid and the first aluminum-water OHP was fabricated successfully. The effects of the heat input and the operating temperature on the heat transfer performance of the aluminum-water OHP was tested. The experimental results show that (1) the aluminum-water OHP can operate for a long time with good heat transfer performance, which shows the effectiveness of the chemical chrome plating surface treatment method for the aluminum-water OHP. (2) The thermal resistance of the aluminum-water OHP decreases with the heat power increases. (3) The operating temperature affects the heat transfer performance of the aluminum-water OHP. And the higher operating temperature of cooling water, the lower thermal resistance of the OHP occurs.