Tradeoff of structural layouts of a compact heat exchanger additively manufactured for space exploration

The innovative thermal management system named Two-Phase Mechanically Pumped Loop (2PMPL) has been investigated to design probes for Venus exploration. This study aims integrating the 2PMPL evaporator inside the probe shell, using the Laser Powder Bed Fusion technique, to reduce the thermal system size and to increase the payload. In this paper, four evaporator designs have been developed and compared to the latest available reference solution. The overall assessment of those designs has been performed by comparing the results of basic Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis, structural behavior, mass and Three-Phase Contact Line (TPCL) length, highlighting specific strengths of each solution.