ACTIVE RADAR SYSTEM THERMAL MANAGEMENT

Major obstacles to TMD and NMD active radar system implementation are the current limitation of thermal management cooling technologies. An innovative thermal management concept providing high thermal capability with enhanced energy storage, thermaltransport and heat dissipation is proposed. The concept relies on both innovative thermal design and advanced materials. The concept is directly applicable to cooling the T/R modules used extensively in the large active antenna systems. The coolingcapability is increased significantly by improvements in the internal heat transfer, enhanced surface area for heat transfer and reduced thermal contact resistances. The improved thermal system provides higher heat flux capability, yet maintains thejunction temperature of the critical electronic components. Devices such as T/R modules, laser diodes and high power electronic components can utilize this innovative thermal system design to significantly improve performance. The thermal conceptprovides enhanced thermal capability for a broad range military systems as well as commercial components and provides a robust and highly effective thermal management approach to address critical technology needs. The thermal system will have immediate application for ballistic missile systems, ground and space-based radar systems and high-energy laser directed energy weapon systems. System payoffs include higher power operation, lower temperatures, reducedcomponent mass and improved packaging and structural integrity of the components. The technology can be applied to other high heat flux applications including: commercial power devices, advanced avionics, electric vehicles and high performance supercomputers.