Effects of inclination angle on oscillating heat pipe thermal conductance and dryout
Yuxuan Li, Zachary Wong, Jeff D. Eldredge, Adrienne S. Lavine, Timothy S. Fisher, Bruce L. Drolen
ASME Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, accepted, 2026
Predicting the operational limits of oscillating heat pipes (OHPs) under varying gravitational
orientations remains a significant challenge for terrestrial and aerospace thermal management
systems. The current paper extends and validates a previously reported two-dimensional conjugate
heat transfer model to quantify the effect of inclination angles on the thermal performance and
dryout behavior of an OHP filled with butane. The model couples a solid plate heat conduction
module with a one-dimensional fluids module using the immersed boundary method. The gravity term
has been added in the momentum equation to account for gravitational effects. Additionally, a
novel computational method is used to simulate perfectly insulated edges on the plate and this
updated approach accommodates complex OHP geometries in the future. The proposed model is
quantitatively validated against terrestrial experiments across multiple inclination angles,
demonstrating good agreement in predicting both steady-state thermal conductance and transient
dryout thresholds. We characterize three representative cases: normal pseudo-steady operation,
switching operation, and dryout. Finally, we observed that the dry fraction exhibits a strong
correlation with the temperature difference and thus represents a key parameter controlling the
thermal performance.
Proceeding Paper2026
Numerical Approaches for Predicting Cavitation Inception in Non-Cavitating CFD Simulations
Doruk Isik, Yuxuan Li, Azfar Ali, Todd Koehler, Chiranth Srinivasan
Proceedings of the ASME 2026 Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting,
Bellevue, Washington, 2026
Double-suction impellers can experience cavitation inception before measurable head degradation
appears, making early detection important for pump design. This paper evaluates three
pressure-based approaches for estimating incipient cavitation from non-cavitating CFD simulations:
a minimum-pressure method, a regression-based bubble-accumulation method, and a localized
sphere-based method. Implemented in Simerics-MP+, the methods are applied across steady and
transient simulations of a single-stage double-suction impeller. The results compare method
sensitivity, conservativeness, and the role of unsteady flow structures in predicted NPSHi.
Wageningen 2025: A Workshop on CFD in Ship Hydrodynamics, 2025
This paper presents an unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulation of the bow wave
breaking dynamics of a scaled KRISO Container Ship (KCS) using Simerics-MP+. The non-dimensional
force coefficients exhibit excellent agreement with experimental data from China Ship Scientific
Research Center (CSSRC), with a maximum error below 2%. Detailed comparisons of mean wave height
confirm the high accuracy of the free surface simulation. Further analysis and visualizations of
air tubes, vortical structures, and the non-dimensional velocity and vorticity fields under the
free surface are provided. This work validates the fidelity of the RANS approach for capturing
the KCS wave breaking dynamics.
Yuxuan Li, Jeff D. Eldredge, Adrienne S. Lavine, Timothy S. Fisher, Bruce L. Drolen
International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 2024, 227, 125530
Oscillating heat pipes (OHPs) consist of a serpentine capillary channel partially filled with liquid
that is embedded in a thermally-conducting solid. They have significant advantages for cooling
electronics and aerospace systems. The model reported here aims to capture the essential physics of
an OHP with minimal complexity and treats some parameters typically derived from correlations or
experiments (such as the film thickness and film triple point velocity) as functions with tunable
constants to be estimated by data assimilation. This model contains two modules. The first uses a
novel and flexible formulation of the conducting solid, solving the two-dimensional heat equation
in a thin plate, with evaporators and condensers as immersed forcing terms and the OHP channel as
an immersed line source. The second module solves one-dimensional fluid motion and heat transfer
equations within the fluid-filled channels based on mass, momentum, and energy conservation,
nucleate boiling, and bubble dryout. It extends the commonly-used film evaporation-condensation
model, allowing both variable liquid film thickness and length and thereby enabling the model to
capture dryout. These modules are weakly coupled, in that wall temperature in the channels are
obtained from the first module and heat flux from the channels determines the line source strength.
After minimal training, the thermal conductance calculated by this model shows good agreement with
a wide range of experiments performed by Drolen et al. (Drolen et al, JTHT, 2022). In particular,
the model successfully predicts the experimentally-observed transition from stable OHP operation to
dryout, for the first time to the authors' knowledge.
Yuxuan Li, Zi'ang Wang, Bin Yu, Bin Zhang, Hong Liu
Shock Waves, 2020, 30: 169–184
Two-dimensional shock–bubble interaction is an analogy of the steady three-dimensional jet
flow in a scramjet. On the basis of Navier–Stokes simulations, a cylindrical bubble embedded
with hydrogen surrounded by air was accelerated by a shock. The evolution can be divided into the
lobe-emergence stage, the back-lobe suction stage, and the equilibrium stage. Based on the
inhomogeneity between the hydrogen mass fraction and the vorticity field, a correlation coefficient
is proposed to quantitatively determine the starting moment of the equilibrium stage. In the
equilibrium stage, quasi-Gaussian distributions are modeled for the mass fraction and the vorticity.
Surface integrals are performed to derive corresponding mixedness and circulation models, both
controlled by two statistical parameters (standard deviation and peak value). Such Gaussian
integrated models are universal for different cylindrical bubble aspect ratios (AR = 0.5–2)
and shock Mach numbers (M = 1.22–2). They provide a statistical perspective of late-time
SBI evolution and help better understand the compressible mixing of scramjet combustors.