Numerical analysis of support column manipulation for efficient heat transfer in vapor chambers

The support column is a critical component in maintaining the mechanical integrity of vapor chambers (VCs). However, excessive columns will compromise the effective heat transfer space, and the competition mechanism between heat transfer and structural design remains unclear. To address this dilemma, this study provides a composite support column design that combines an inner solid column with an outer wick layer, which takes into account both mechanical support and wicking functions. A transient numerical model considering the composite support column was developed to evaluate the effects of various column characteristics on the non-isothermal flow and heat transfer performance of VCs. The results reveal that increasing the number of composite columns from 25 to 225 reduces the thermal resistance (R_vc) by 14.5 %, at the cost of a 34.9 % increase in temperature non-uniformity (ΔT_c). The optimized diagonal arrangement incorporating radial multi-artery channels (VC-M) achieves the lowest R_vc of 0.0606 K/W and a minimum ΔT_c of 2.763 K, while enlarging the effective evaporation interface area by a factor of 20.694 compared to traditional circular columns. Furthermore, the potential for fabricating such composite columns using laser texturing was evaluated and compared with other advanced manufacturing techniques, providing a pioneering exploration of the production feasibility of novel support columns.