Figure 1: Liquid-cooled chassis for electronics coolingFigure 1: Liquid-cooled chassis
for electronics cooling
Aircraft engineers today are charged with creating a More Electric Aircraft (MEA) with greater processing capabilities, while also minimizing the aircraft's weight and power consumption. With MEA, hydraulic and pneumatic systems are being replaced with electric systems. Combined with the addition of more high-end embedded computing systems, the need for liquid cooling on jets, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, and other types of military and commercial aircraft is increasing. By moving from air cooling to liquid cooling, engineers can eliminate thermal restrictions that might otherwise force them to compromise on system performance. Engineers can also reduce weight and power consumption and increase meantime between equipment failures by lowering operating temperatures. Liquid-cooled chassis and cold plates provide very effective cooling for high-power modules and high-power density components, while heat exchangers provide cooling of engine or hydraulic fluids or dispose of the heat absorbed by the chassis or cold plates.