COMPOSITE GENERATOR HOUSING WITH ENHANCED THERMAL MANAGEMENT

THE PROPOSED PHASE I PROGRAM WILL DEMONSTRATE A COMPOSITE AIRCRAFT GENERATOR HOUSING, OR RESONANT CONVERTOR, WHICH WILL BE LIGHTER, STRONGER, STIFFER AND HAVE ENHANCED THERMAL MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE THAN THE CURRENT ALUMINUM COMPONENT. IN PHASE I, SPARTA ENGINEERS, WORKING WITH A REPRESENTATIVE AIRCRAFT GENERATOR MANUFACTURER (I.E., LELAND ELECTROSYSTEMS, INC) WILL DEVELOP AN ADVANCED COMPOSITE GENERATOR RESONANT CONVERTOR CONCEPTUAL DESIGN, EVALUATE MATERIAL SELECTIONS AND ESTABLISH A FABRICATION APPROACH. SPARTA WILL EVALUATE ITS INNOVATIVE MATCHED METAL NET MOLDING PROCESS FOR FABRICATION OF THE COMPOSITE RESONANT CONVERTOR. THIS PROCESS IS IDEALLY SUITED FOR COST-EFFECTIVE FABRICATION OF SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZE, COMPLEX, HIGH PERFORMANCE, TIGHT TOLERANCE COMPOSITE COMPONENTS. THE FEASBILITY OF THE SELECTED DESIGN WILL BE EVALUATED FOR SELECTED OPERATING CONDITIONS VIA DETAILED THERMAL AND STRUCTURAL ANALYSES. IN ADDITION, A SMALL NUMBER OF SUBSCALE DEMONSTRATION ARTICLES WILL BE FABRICATED. IN THE FOLLOW-ON PHASE II PROGRAM, A FULL SIZE COMPOSITE GENERATOR RESONANT CONVERTOR WILL BE FABRICATED AND TESTED. THIS WORK WILL BE DIRECTLY APPLICABLE TO CURRENT (F/A-18) AND FUTURE (F-22) AIRCRAFT PROGRAMS AND WILL ALSO SUPPORT THE MORE ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT INITIATIVE.