N092-135 TITLE: Periscope Antenna Active Cooling

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles, Sensors

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMS 435 Photonics Mast (AN?BVS-1) ACAT III

OBJECTIVE: Develop means for providing active cooling for submarine periscope antennas.

DESCRIPTION: Submarine periscope antennas have become increasingly complex as a result of new requirements and advances in technology. Thermal management of the periscope antenna is a critical problem as new capabilities, including active radar, infrared imaging and monopulse direction finding necessitate the addition of heat generating components into the confined volume of the antenna. The antenna radome is generally a poor thermal conductor and any exposed metal parts are usually covered with radar absorbing material, also a poor thermal conductor. Convective and conductive cooling is proving inadequate to deal with the increasing thermal load resulting in premature failure of heat sensitive components. Methods for providing active cooling of the antenna would provide improved sensor performance and reliability. Proposed solutions should minimize growth of existing antenna/sensor volume, be able to extract 150-200 watts of thermal load, and provide cooling down to 20 degrees Celsius while working in external radome temperatures of up to 50 degrees Celsius. A potential cooling candidate, has a 6.5 inch inner diameter and there may be limited passages though which to conduct heat. A surface approximately 7.5 inches in outside diameter by 3 to 5 inches high is available to dissipate heat into an external air environment although other configurations will be considered. Proposed solutions should be acoustically quiet, minimize electromagnetic interference that may affect antenna systems, and be adaptable to support different antenna configurations and applications.

PHASE I: Develop a conceptual design for an active cooling approach able to extract 150-200 watts of heat from a submarine periscope antenna.

PHASE II: Design, Fabricate and evaluate a prototype of the active cooling mechanism designed in Phase I. Testing of cooling capacity may be performed in an appropriate thermal chamber.

PHASE III: If successfully demonstrated in Phase II, develop and install devices of this type in ISIS and/or AN/BVS-1 submarine periscope as technology insertion

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: Compact active cooling systems could be applied to any electronic systems designed to operate in high ambient temperature environments such as border surveillance.

REFERENCES:
1. Sergent & Krum; Thermal Management Handbook: For Electronic Assemblies

2. Steinburg; Cooling Techniques for Electronic Equipment, 2nd Edition

3. McCluskey,Grzybowski & Podlesak, Ed.; High Temperature Electronics

4. Electronics Cooling Magazine www.electronics-cooling.com/index.php

KEYWORDS: Submarine Antennas;Infrared Imaging; Thermal Management;Active Cooling; Detectors, Periscopes

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

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