Optimum heat pipe design: A nonlinear programming approach

In this paper, the optimum design of a heat pipe is formulated as a nonlinear programming problem. The objective is to minimize the weight of the heat pipe, subject to nonlinear inequality constraints and side constraints. These constraints correspond to desirable performance criteria and limitations of heat transport; An interior Penalty Function Method incorporating Modified Powell's Method with Quadratic Interpolation Technique is used to Solve the problem. The optimum values of the various design parameters are arrived at and presented. The effects of orientation and adiabatic section length of the heat pipe on the optimum design parameters are studied. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.