Improving air cooling efficiency of transmit/receive modules through using heat pipes

• Published in: Thermal science and engineering progress 2019-12, Vol.14, p.100418, Article 100418
• Main Authors: Nikolaenko, Yu.E., Baranyuk, A.V., Reva, S.A., Pis′mennyi, E.N., Dubrovka, F.F., Rohachov, V.A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Active phased array antenna; Air cooling; Heat pipe; Heat sink; Microwave elements; Temperature field; Transmit/receive module
• ISSN: 2451-9049; 2451-9049
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tsep.2019.100418

•The temperature fields of the air-cooled T/R module were obtained by simulation.•An increase in air velocity to 9 m/s lowered the temperature of the module by 17.6 °C.•New efficient design of T/R module radiator case with heat pipes is proposed.•At an air speed of 9 m/s, heat pipes reduce the temperature of the module by 20.3 °C.•Heat pipes reduce temperature nonuniformity by 4.4 times (from 30.2 °C to 6.8 °C). Increasing the cooling efficiency of T/R modules is an important problem in the process of designing active phased array antennas. In this study, the authors use numerical simulation to study the ways of increasing the air cooling efficiency of a T/R module containing 8 active microwave elements with a heat output power of 28 W each. The simulation allowed obtaining the temperature distribution over the mounting surface of the base for three values of the air flow velocity in the interfin channels: 2, 6 and 9 m/s. It is shown that the maximum temperature of the mounting surface in the spots where microwave elements are mounted is 90.6 °C at an air flow velocity of 2 m/s. If the air velocity is increased to 6 m/s, the temperature in these areas decreases to 77.1 °C, and to 73.0 °C at a velocity of 9 m/s. To make air cooling even more efficient and to reduce the temperature of the mounting surface, a new technical solution based on the use of heat pipes is proposed. It is shown that the use of 8 flat heat pipes in the design of the T/R module allows reducing the maximum temperature value in the spots with installed microwave elements by another 20.3 °C, i.e., to 52.7 °C at an air velocity of 9 m/s. At the same time, the non-uniformity of the temperature field of the mounting base decreases significantly (by more than 20 °C).