REPRESENTATIVE ELECTRONICS COOLING PROJECTS
Compact video display cooling.
Thermal analysis and recommendations for cooling a miniature video
display worn on the head. All cooling is by conduction, natural convection, and
thermal radiation; no fan is required. The photograph shows a mechanic wearing
the video display. This product is the cover story of the
April 8, 1999, Machine Design magazine.
Control cabinet cooling.
Analysis of the electrical enclosure cooling for a turbo-generator
control system to be installed on U.S. Navy destroyers. This cabinet is unique
because it can be disassembled and moved through small shipboard passages and
then reassembled inside the ship. Douglas provided the vibration and shock
analysis, the detailed mechanical design including sheet metal fabrication drawings,
assembly drawings, and Bills of Material.
Power supply cooling.
Thermal analysis of electrical enclosures and heat sinks for portable
and rack-mounted power supplies. Cooling analysis was provided for both
conventional and switching power supplies. Douglas assisted with testing to
determine electrical power dissipation.
Digital electronics cooling
Thermal analysis of consumer digital electronics.
Superconducting wireless communications.
Design and engineering of a cryocooler for cooling superconducting
thin-film electronic filters used in cellular and Personal Communication Service
(PCS) wireless base stations. The equipment is mounted on cellular and PCS base
station towers to increase receiver sensitivity and selectivity thereby allowing
increased cell site coverage and improved call clarity. Responsibilities
included thermal, structural, and fluid flow analysis and mechanical design
using thermodynamic calculations performed by others. Two new manufacturing processes were developed concurrently with the design thereby
reducing total development cost and schedule. This orifice pulse tube cryocooler
provides over 5 watts refrigeration at 80oK (-320oF) while rejecting heat to
cooling air. The photograph shows the engineering-test unit operating in
ambient air covered with frost.