Abstract The present communication reports on the investigation of the effect of an electric field on the performance of a flat plate heat pipe (FPHP). In the studied configuration, an electric stress is imposed on the liquid–vapor interface, which adds to the capillary force. The ability of the electric field to change the shape of the liquid–vapor interface is investigated by means of both a numerical and an experimental approach. The numerical approach consists in solving two strongly-coupled equations: the Laplace–Young equation and the Laplace equation for the electric potential; the latter being required to get the distribution of the normal electric stress along the meniscus, while the former is used to calculate the meniscus shape. The Laplace–Youngequation is modified accordingly to take into account the added contribution of the normal electric stress. The results of the numerical study for an application inside an FPHP are discussed. A possible enhancement of the capillary pumping is highlighted for a specific geometry of the electrode. The experimental approach is based on a test bench that consists in a tilted grooved aluminum plate equipped with a pair of horizontal electrodes filled with Novec HFE-7100 in liquid and vapor states. The effect of the electric field on the liquid distribution is observed by confocal microscopy. A good agreement is found between the experimental result and the numerical expectations. The experimental results highlight important effects of the electric field on the liquid distribution inside an FPHP, which could be ultimately used to enhance its thermal performance. Graphic abstract

中文翻译：

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沿带槽扁平热管的两相电流体动力学

摘要 本通讯报告了电场对平板热管 (FPHP) 性能影响的研究。在研究的配置中，电应力施加在液-气界面上，这增加了毛细管力。通过数值和实验方法研究了电场改变液-气界面形状的能力。数值方法包括求解两个强耦合方程：拉普拉斯-杨方程和电位的拉普拉斯方程；后者用于获得沿弯液面的法向电应力分布，而前者用于计算弯液面形状。拉普拉斯-杨氏方程被相应地修改以考虑法向电应力的附加贡献。讨论了 FPHP 内部应用程序的数值研究结果。对于电极的特定几何形状，突出显示了毛细管泵送的可能增强。实验方法基于一个测试台，该测试台包括一个倾斜的带凹槽的铝板，上面装有一对填充有液态和气态 Novec HFE-7100 的水平电极。通过共聚焦显微镜观察电场对液体分布的影响。在实验结果和数值预期之间发现了很好的一致性。实验结果突出了电场对 FPHP 内液体分布的重要影响，最终可用于提高其热性能。图形摘要