Altran will be present at the MEA meeting on 02/06/2019-02/07/2019 in Toulouse, France in order to present its futuristic project abstract is described below.
Abstract :
The electrification of an aircraft demands an increase of power electronics, which are capable of delivering more and more power keeping the same size. This leads to an overheating of these components which need to be cooled to have an optimal functioning and life span. The heat fluxes to be cooled typically range from about 1-50 W/cm2 but some applications can reach values over 100 and 500 W/cm2 (even higher from very small “hot spots” of 1x1mm). This project aims to introduce the pulsating heat pipe (PHP) as cooling element, which is capable of exchanging huge amounts of heat. However, technical challenges are numerous due to an incomplete understanding of PHP operation in the scientific literature, e.g. the lack of good design theories and of viable, comprehensive simulation tools to describe the thermal/hydraulic performance of a PHP. The solution adopted in this project is to develop a very detailed 1D simulation code and at the same time carry out a broad experimental campaign for the dimensioning and understanding of PHP. Fabricate PHP designs with innovative manufacturing techniques and extensively test these PHP experimentally as a “proof-of-concept” of this new disruptive cooling technology. Then, use the experimental data to verify this code and build a mathematical model for prediction purposes. Hopefully, this approach will make PHP commercially viable by cutting the time for their choice, sale and cost whilst eliminating all (or most) of the final testing by the end client and gain their acceptance into the engineering practice.