Modern sensors often require very precise heat management to ensure the accuracy and repeatability of that sensors measurements. Current state of the art cooling systems require large amounts of power to maintain sensor temperature because they are constantly using active systems to regulate the temperature. Additionally, they are often custom built systems for one-off applications. There are many examples of heat pipe based cooling systems that remove heat from a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) level chip and reject the heat to the atmosphere. These systems require rigid pipes and must be carefully designed to be compatible with the sensors. Semi-active systems such as Variable Conduction Heat Pipes (VCHP) exist however they always need to be customized to the application. VCHPs offer a power free way to regulate temperature but require factory calibration in order to change the temperature set point. A Thermal management system that allows for easy integration with many different sensor geometries as well as being adaptable to different environmental conditions is required. To meet the Navys SBIR Objective, Mayflower is proposing a Flexible Integrated Thermal System (FITS) which will allow easy integration with different sensor geometries while combining active and passive solutions to minimize power draw.
Benefit: The proposed solution can be adapted to the various environmental temperatures and heat loads outlined in the 3 SBIR scenarios. Mayflowers proposed solution combines the flexibility of composite materials and the design maturity of technologies to create a system that utilizes single phase cooling techniques to dissipate heat and consistently maintain temperature of a sensor whose size, shape, and heat output may vary.BW
Keywords: Thermal, Thermal, management, flexible, integrated, system, temperature, stabilization, Sensors
