ESLI has developed a highly compliant carbon brush thermal interface with good conductive heat transfer during a Phase 2 SBIR contract with NASA JSC. This lightweight brush can be retrofitted to the radiant fin thermal interface (RFTI), baselined as the interface for the International Space Station (ISS) Orbital Replaceable Units (ORU’s), without changing the fin structure. Radiant heat transfer is thereby augmented by conductive heat transfer, dramatically increasing total thermal conductance of the interface. ESLI is now addressing critical issues concerning its actual use on the ISS in a Phase 3 program. These issues include carbon fiber debris, mechanical and thermal integrity, mechanical insertion and removal forces, and optimization for best thermal performance. Results thus far are encouraging. In this paper, thermal conductance and insertion/extraction force measurements on prototype specimens are presented.
Enhanced thermal conductance of ORU radiant fin thermal interface using carbon brush materials
Space technology and applications international forum -1999 ; 1999 ; Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA)
AIP Conference Proceedings ; 458 , 1 ; 565-574
1999-01-22
10 pages
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
Enhanced Thermal Conductance of ORU Radiant Fin Thermal Interface Using Carbon Brush Materials
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