Lightweight graphitic foam heat exchangers for fighter aircraft avionics

In this phase I SBIR program, a team led by Advanced Ceramics Research Inc. (ACR) proposes an affordable manufacturing technique for high through-thickness thermal conductivity heat sinks for fighter avionics applications. ACR will use its Aquapour™ tooling materials as a support for the fabrication of the heat sinks. In the phase I program, ACR will fabricate sub-scale components, evaluate the thermal and mechanical properties and provide high thermal conductivity heat sinks that could be integrated into existing as well as future fighter avionics modules. In the phase II program, the ACR led team will scale up the manufacturing process for fabricating full-scale high thermal conductivity heat sink components. Prototype components will be fabricated for testing under realistic conditions.