Experimental and Simulation Studies on Cold Welding Sealing Process of Heat Pipes

Sealing quality strongly affects heat pipe performance, but few studies focus on the process of heat pipe sealing. Cold welding sealing technology based on a stamping process is applied for heat pipe sealing. The bonding mechanism of the cold welding sealing process (CWSP) is investigated and compared with the experimental results obtained from the bonding interface analysis. An orthogonal experiment is conducted to observe the effects of various parameters, including the sealing gap, sealing length, sealing diameter, and sealing velocity on bonding strength. A method with the utilization of saturated vapor pressure inside a copper tube is proposed to evaluate bonding strength. A corresponding finite element model is developed to investigate the effects of sealing gap and sealing velocity on plastic deformation during the cold welding process. Effects of various parameters on the bonding strength are determined and it is found that the sealing gap is the most critical factor and that the sealing velocity contributes the least effect. The best parameter combination (A ₁ B ₃ C ₁ D ₃, with a 0.5 mm sealing gap, 6 mm sealing length, 3.8 mm sealing diameter, and 50 mm/s sealing velocity) is derived within the experimental parameters. Plastic deformation results derived from the finite element model are consistent with those from the experiment. The instruction for the CWSP of heat pipes and the design of sealing dies of heat pipes are provided.