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Optimisation of energy input in laser powder bed fusion of porous wick structures for functional vapour chambers
Taylor-Smith, Max Baroutaji, Ahmad
Taylor-Smith, Max
Baroutaji, Ahmad
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2026-05-29
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Abstract
Wick based thermal management devices such as heat pipes and vapour chambers are highly effective passive cooling technologies where performance is fundamentally governed by the geometry and manufacturability of the internal wick. This work investigates the direct fabrication of aluminium vapour chambers with integrated lattice wicks using laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) with a particular focus on edge-parameter-driven optimisation of lattice formation moving beyond conventional volumetric energy density approaches. The study systematically examines how localised energy input governs lattice formation pore interconnectivity and capillary structure and translates optimised processing conditions into complete vapour chamber manufacture suitable for real world operation. A regular orthogonal lattice was designed to target strut and pore radii consistent with capillary performance requirements and the resolution limits of the L-PBF system. A structured parameter study was conducted on AlSi10Mg by varying laser power, scan speed and layer thickness. Standard OEM parameters were shown to produce dense material rather than an open lattice while reducing volumetric energy density promoted lattice formation with the most consistent and interconnected pore networks achieved at 2.86 J/mm3 resulting in approximately 45% porosity. Complete vapour chambers were subsequently manufactured, sealed and thermally evaluated using acetone as the working fluid demonstrating temperature differences exceeding 70 °C at a heat input of 65 W. These results highlight the potential of L-PBF energy input optimisation for wick-based device manufacture and establishes the functional performance of fully integrated vapour chambers demonstrating the feasibility of producing advanced thermal management devices directly via L-PBF.
Citation
Robinson, J., Taylor-Smith, M., Arjunan, A., Baroutaji, A., Singh, M., Wanniarachchi, C., Lawal, O. (2026) Optimisation of energy input in laser powder bed fusion of porous wick structures for functional vapour chambers. Applied Thermal Engineering, 301, 131623.
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Journal article
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en
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© 2026 The Authors. Published by Elsevier. This is an open access article available under a Creative Commons licence.
The published version can be accessed at the following link on the publisher’s website: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.131623
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1359-4311
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This research was conducted in collaboration with and support from Innovate UK Transformative Technologies funding 10072860 “UK Manufactured 3D Printed Sintered Wick Heat Pipes for Embedded Solutions”, Entropy Engineering Ltd., the University of Wolverhampton, Additive Analytics Ltd., EOS GmbH, nTop and Materialise.