Abstract
RF communication and radar systems present an extreme thermal management challenge. These systems are comprised of tightly packaged and high wattage components requiring a controlled temperature to meet performance and reliability parameters. In these systems, there is little space available for air flow or other traditional cooling methods. In addition, the heat generating components are typically microscale semiconductor devices fabricated on integrated circuit substrates buried deep within the system. Localized cooling using integrated microsystems may provide a solution to these thermal management issues. One approach being pursued to meet this thermal challenge is the integration of miniature synthetic air jets near the heat generating components. These synthetic jets are generated using oscillating piezoelectric actuators that force air through a small nozzle at high flow rates and in very close proximity to the heat generating component. The resulting jets provide vorticity within the fluid, leading to enhanced mixing with the surrounding lower temperature fluid, and a subsequent increase in the heat transfer coefficient. The US Army AMRDEC is developing and operating microactuator test beds to mature these concepts and implement practical integration solutions. This investigation has modeled potential actuators and jets in using computational fluid dynamics and heat transfer codes, verified the results of these models with the prototype test beds, and demonstrated high-levels of localized cooling. This paper will present actuator designs, thermal modeling results, and actual cooling results using a high-stroke piezoelectric actuator as the drive element.
Published Version
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