Increased Thermal Management for EKV Electronics Unit Heatsinks for High Power Electronics in Flight and Ground Test Environments (Proposal No. PVG04

The Exoatmospheric Interceptor Kill Vehicle (EKV) is a key element of the Global Missile Defense (GMD) system for defense against threat reentry vehicles. A key EKV subsystem is Electronics Unit (EU) that includes high power electronics, which generate significant waste heat during flight as well as in ground test environments. Thermal management methods are required to transport this heat away from the EU electronic components and maintain their temperature below design operating temperatures. The current EU thermal management approach uses a heatsink approach to store the waste heat from the electronics in beryllium heatsinks adjacent to the electronic boards. This approach meets flight requirements, but in ground tests, test times must be truncated periodically to let the electronics cool-down. A planned EKV EU Upgrade will include additional higher power electronics increasing the amount of waste heat generated. Beryllium heatsinks provide the desired thermal management performance attributes, but MDA/GMD is exploring alternatives to beryllium for cost reduction and producibility increases. There is a need for improved thermal management performance through materials or design changes to increase the heat conduction from the EU heatsinks to the housing, increase heat storage capability of the EU housing, and conduct heat to the exterior of the housing for storage or heat dissipation. Phase I program will develop design concepts for the EKV EU to meet the increased thermal management requirements. Phase II program would develop and demonstrate the improved thermal management materials and designs for the EU heatsinks to meet the increased electronics power level waste heat requirements.