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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TOPMOST (Optimization two phases cooling solution using micro pump brick)

Teaser

Summary

The amount of waste heat that is generated in electronic components in aerospace application is increasing because of higher electrical power demands. As a result, conventional cooling methods are not able to maintain the electronic component below its maximum temperature. For this reason, a two-phase Mechanically Pumped Fluid Loop has been developed for high-power electronic components in a commercial aerospace application. These electronic components generate a waste heat of 1200 W that is divided over several hotspots while the temperature gradient over the component has to be kept to a minimum. The developed cooling system uses R245fa as refrigerant and is made from aluminum components produced with additive manufacturing. The use of this novel production technique results in an unprecedented low system mass (2.5 kg) and small system dimensions. Measurements show that the system has an excellent thermal performance and is able to cool 2400W (so two times the initial requirement). The system has passed vibration and salt spray tests.

Work performed

In the preliminary design phase of the project, R245fa has been selected as the working fluid of the thermal control system, because of its non-flammability, low toxicity, and excellent thermal performance. Initial tests have been carried out with this fluid on several heat exchanger samples, and these tests show an excellent cooling performance. Many parts of the system will be manufactured with 3D metal printing of aluminum, and several tests have been carried out to select the best aluminum alloy and the optimal printing process parameters.

In the detail design phase of the project, several tests were carried out in order to reduce the risks of new technologies that are used in the TOPMOST system. These tests include corrosions tests on 3D printed aluminium samples and orbital welding tests. This resulted in a complete detail design for the two-phase system, including CAD drawings, a list of components, and FEM analyses.

During the construction phase of the project, 3 demonstrators have been built. Two of the demonstrators have be delivered to Thales Avionics Electrical Systems, and one demonstrator has been used for qualification tests.

In the test phase of the project, thermal, vibration and salt spray tests have been carried out. The demonstrators have an excellent thermal performance, and the tested system has passed the environmental tests.

The TOPMOST project has resulted in 3 peer reviewed conference papers. The TOPMOST work was presented at these three conferences and also at 1 workshop. Furthermore, the TOPMOST results were presented at three exhibitions.

Final results

The TOPMOST project has resulted in demonstrators for a cooling system that can cool a much higher heat load with a much lower mass than conventional cooling systems. This novel cooling system enables more powerful electronics on More Electric Aircraft. The project results can also be used for space applications, for example in the H2020-SPACE-2018 IMPACTA (822027) project. In this project, the objective is to build a two-phase cooling system for active antennae for space applications. The consortium for this project includes manufactures of the component and the final customer of the cooling systems.