SBIR-STTR Award

The proposed Phase I study will lay the foundation for development of a new high-performance cooling system for the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Ground Mobile Radio (GMR). A proof-of-concept study will be undertaken to show how the cooling system will meet the heat dissipation requirements and space constraints, and endure the operating environment of GMR. The study will determine the required hardware changes, footprint, reliability and thermal analysis, unit and life-cycle cost projections, and maintenance procedures, as well as address the maturity of the technology. A cooling system will be designed to condition and deliver the coolant to the desired pressure, temperature and flow rate while conforming to the weight, volume and packaging constraints of GMR. The cooling system will be fabricated and tested during the Phase II study.

Benefit:
Findings from this study will have substantial commercialization potential in both commercial and defense electronics in such applications as cooling of power conditioning electronics, directed energy weapons, phased array radars, computer data centers, and medical x-ray systems.

Keywords:
Joint taccticl radio system, Joint taccticl radio system, compact cooling system, power amplifier, Ground Mobile Radio, Thermal Management

The primary objective of the proposed Phase II study is to implement a new high-performance cooling technology for thermal management of the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) Ground Mobile Radio (GMR). Having successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of this cooling concept during the Phase I study, the proposed work will focus on determining all required cooling system hardware using an actual GMR frame, and verifying thermal performance using same frame. A complete cooling system will be designed and constructed that matches the power and geometrical constraints of the GMR. Tests will be performed in an environmental chamber capable of spanning the entire temperature range of the military tactical environment of the GMR to validate the performance of the cooling system. Findings from the study will be used to propose follow-up evaluation/commercialization plans.

Benefit:
Findings from this study will have substantial commercialization potential in both commercial and defense electronics in such applications as cooling of power conditioning electronics, directed energy weapons, phased array radars, computer data centers, and medical x-ray systems.

Keywords:
military tactical environment, Joint Tactical Radio System, Thermal Management, Cooling, Ground Mobile Radio