High Z-Conductivity Composite Structures for Low-Observable Aircraft Heat Rejection (1001-951)

ABSTRACT: Triton Systems Inc., in combination with our partner Northrop-Grumman Corporation proposes to develop a high performance composite heat exchanger system that can be integrated into airframe structures of unmanned and manned systems to provide thermal management for aircraft systems and/or mission payload. The key ingredient of the composite heat exchanger is a novel technique for piercing 2-D composite laminate with ultra-high thermal conductivity rods and/or fins, allowing the construction of sandwich or cellular constructions having internal and external fins for efficient heat transfer to and from the working fluid. For the airborne laser application, two distinct configurations are proposed: 1) a flush mounted sandwich heat exchanger, in which a large array of pins penetrate the outer skin and intrude into the working fluid channels to efficiently pull heat from the fluid to the airframe skin, and 2) a set of surface mounted vanes in a surrounding duct, where the vanes communicate thermally with high conductivity pins immersed in the heat exchanger working fluid. During the Phase I effort up to six trial heat exchanger panels will be evaluated in a wind tunnel, with the best configuration reproduced in a prototype test article representing the key features of the aircraft installation. BENEFIT: The basic development proposed is a greatly improved fluid:air or air:air heat exchanger, fabricated from ultra high conductivity composite materials and would therefore be immune to corrosion degradation. The basic airframe thermal management concept could be applied to battery cooling systems for electric and/or hybrid vehicles, as well as high performance internal combustion engine cooling, replacing conventional brazed copper tubing/fin radiators. The rapid pace of automotive high performance/extreme fuel economy internal combustion engine development provides an excellent opportunity for commercialization of high performance thermal management systems such as is proposed here.