dr. jim wilson

principal mechanical engineer

raytheon space and airborne systems

thermal design challenges are currently a design constraint on the capability of many military and avionic electronic systems. while several of these challenges are familiar to members of the commercial electronics cooling community (e.g. microprocessor cooling), the typical, or routine, solutions to these problems become much more challenging when attempted in the much harsher military environment. military and avionics equipment designers must consider extremes of hot and cold temperature, moisture, and the need for long term reliability. they are also expected to use the latest and greatest electronics available in the commercial world and keep the equipment light and small. this presentation will cover considerations that thermal design engineers must address when considering thermal management products for military and avionics environments. suppliers of thermal management products also need to know how their products will be used and what type of performance data is most relevant to military and avionics designers.

government funded research in thermal management has been significant over the past several years. results from this research have included several thermal management technologies that offer the promise of either allowing higher heat dissipation or lower operating temperatures. however, implementing these technologies into fielded systems has been slow and in some cases difficult. the second part of this presentation will discuss some of these candidate cooling methods and discuss why implementing these solutions into military and avionics products does not happen quickly. design and implementation considerations that need to be addressed by potential thermal management techniques will be discussed.