Thermal Management Techniques in Avionics Cooling

Innovation is carrying airborne technologies farther and higher than ever before, and avionic cooling practices have had to evolve to keep up.

Dispensable Gels vs Gap Filler Pads

Learn the distinct pros and cons of the two thermal interface materials.

Surviving the Challenge of Thermal Design in Aerospace Electronics

The aerospace sector places some uniquely challenging demands on electronics designers. For a start, the environments that the electronics are exposed to are much harsher...

Using Heat Pipes to Cool Embedded Computers

Heat pipes are a well-known thermal management solution used in computing applications. Nearly all laptop computers contain some number of heat pipes to effectively remove heat from heat generating...

Using System Simulation to Manage Increasing Thermal Loads on Aircraft Fuel Systems

Today’s modern military fighter jets are like “a flying thermos bottle” according to Steve Iden, AFRL Invent Program Manager ^[1]. Many...

The Scaling of Loss Pathways and Heat Transfer in Small Scale Internal Combustion Engines

The rapid expansion of the remotely piloted aircraft market includes an interest in 10 kg to 25 kg vehicles (Group 2) for monitoring, surveillance, and...

Advanced Thermal Management Solutions

Now more than ever, devices with increasing power and smaller footprints are demanding a good stable cost effective thermal management solution. Fortunately many options are available today. However, for...

Thermoelectric Cooling

There are many places one can go to get an outline on the pros and cons of different methods for enclosure cooling. Although we will briefly touch on them here, this is really an in-depth article on how to choose a...

Rotorcraft Icing Computational Tool Development

The formation of ice over lifting surfaces can affect aerodynamic performance. In the case of helicopters, this loss in lift and the increase in sectional drag forces will have a dramatic...

Optimizing Thermal Management to Meet SWaP-C Requirements

As defense systems continue to shrink, corresponding thermal management concerns expand exponentially. Designers have learned that overheating can be the downfall of even the most...

Compact Thermal Management Solutions for Mobile Laser Weapon Systems

The Navy is developing a vehicle mounted directed energy (DE) weapon system in their Ground Based Air Defense (GBAD) Directed Energy On-The-Move (OTM) program. As part of...

Thermal Conductivity Measurement Setup for Low-Temperature Characterization of Laser Materials

Operating lasers at cryogenic temperatures gained maturity only in the mid-90s due mostly to the progress in transparent, laser-grade ceramics and...

UGVs — On the Cutting Edge of Thermal Management

Thermal management of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) is more complex than other electronic equipment because they have to operate in harsh environments such as humid tropical rainforests or...

Submersion and Directed Flow Cooling Technology for Military Applications

As the US military shifts from boots on the ground to drones in the sky, there will be an increasing need for computing power on foreign soil, under the sea and in the...

Pumped Two-Phase Cooling for Thermal Management of High Heat Flux Electronics

Pumped two-phase cooling provides a compact, low pumping power option for thermal management in high heat flux applications (300-500W/cm²). Compared to...

Thermal Simulation and Testing of Expanded Metal Foils for Lightning Protection

With the implementation of major aircraft structures fabricated from carbon fiber reinforced plastic materials, lightning protection has become a more complicated...

Designing Thermal Management Systems for Smaller, Lighter Avionics

The avionics systems of military aircraft support maneuverability and situation awareness for the pilot, process essential images, operate sensors, record data, and provide...

Trends in Military System Thermal Management

There is no shortage of challenges facing thermal engineers in today’s military and aerospace applications, from the inherent problems caused by harsh environments to the challenges created by...

Designing A New Generation of Rugged Military Electronics

The military electronics industry is reinventing itself as DoD budget cuts are creating a need for rugged solutions that deliver long-term viability. Despite reduced resources, the...

Thin Cavity Cooling of Electronic Circuitry

Anovel tested technology for cooling electronic circuitry is also useful in many other industries. The method is called “Thin Cavity Fluidic Heat Exchanger”(TCFHE). Technology details can be...

Minimizing Thermal Resistance with Direct Attach Heat Spreaders

As commercial and military electronics applications continue to “push the envelope” with higher powers and smaller packaging requirements, it is becoming more critical to...

Gas Turbine Exhaust Recovery Design Improves Propulsion Efficiency

In January, Concepts NREC (CN) was awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) grant from the Navy to improve the power efficiency of its gas turbine prime...

Thermal Management Techniques for Military Embedded Computers

As military programs continue to place an ever growing reliance on embedded computer systems, developments in rugged computer design must continue to advance to keep pace with...

Active Heat Sink Technology to Improve Thermal Performance of Military Systems

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has extended its contract with Thermacore to develop and commercialize active heat sinks that can be used...

When the Going Gets Tough...

The theaters of operation for marine, air and land vehicles continue to redefine the term “rugged environment.” No longer bound by on-board human operators, autonomous and unmanned military vehicles are now...

Novel Active Transient Cooling Systems

Energy-efficient cooling technology is extremely important in today’s society, considering the need for energy conservation and the urgent need to mitigate global warming. Near-room-temperature...

Analysis of On-Chip Heat Distribution in the Design of RF Power Detectors and Transistor Arrays

The simulation of electromagnetic (EM) and thermal properties of semiconductor and substrate materials has been demonstrated to be particularly...

Water Mist System for Shipboard Machinery Space Fires

Water mist has been determined to be a preferred alternative to Halon 1301 total flooding to extinguish fires occurring in ship machinery spaces and pump rooms, because it is...