Research on the Fabrication and Hot-pressing Forming Mechanism of Polymer Array Micro-groove Wick Structure

doi:10.3901/JME.2025.22.080

Abstract

Abstract: Addressing the issues of simplistic design and poor heat transfer in flexible polymer vapor chamber groove-wick structures,the secondary hot-pressing is employed to fabricate an array of micro-groove wick structures on polymer surfaces. Initially,a metal mold with micro-grooves is crafted using electrical discharge machining（EDM）. This mold’s surface structure is then transferred onto an amorphous alloy through hot-pressing, resulting in the creation of an amorphous alloy mold. Subsequently,the surface structure of the amorphous alloy mold is replicated onto the polymer surface via another hot-pressing step. The impacts of various hot-pressing parameters,including temperature,pressure,and time,on the filling performance and shape accuracy of both the amorphous alloy and polymer surface structures are investigated. The findings reveal that temperature plays a significant role during the hot-pressing of the amorphous alloy mold,achieving a maximum filling rate of 99.76%. In contrast,pressure exerts the greatest influence during the hot-pressing of the polymer surface,yielding a maximum filling rate of 97.71%. Ultimately,the two-step hot-pressing process attains an overall filling rate of 97.48%,enabling the precise replication of the metal surface’s array of micro-groove structures onto the polymer surface. This methodology offers a novel approach for fabricating wick structures in polymer vapor chambers and provides valuable insights and references for research and applications in related fields.

Key words: wick structure, hot-pressing, polymer vapor chamber, amorphous alloy

CLC Number:

TK124

TANG Heng, HUANG Qiang, WU Chunxia, SUN Yalong, TANG Yong. Research on the Fabrication and Hot-pressing Forming Mechanism of Polymer Array Micro-groove Wick Structure[J]. Journal of Mechanical Engineering, 2025, 61(22): 80-87.

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