A STATISTICAL TREATMENT OF ACCELERATED HEAT PIPE LIFE TEST DATA ( 2 )

In our preceding report ( 1 ), we presented the results of reliability tests on commercially available copper water heat pipes subjected to accelerated heating and demonstrated that the operation life of heat pipes could be estimated through the statistical treatment of temperature distributions and gas analysis using a mass spectrometer. Despite the compatibility between copper and water, some non-condensible gas( CO₂ ) is generated during the aging test.
We examined the conditions inside heat pipes commercially available and found discoloration in the groove on the inner wall of the pipe. The micro stracture of the discolored portion showed it to be organic compound.