ADVANCED PASSIVE COOLING FOR HIGH POWER ELECTROMECHANICAL ACTUATORS

A passive cooling approach for aircraft electromechanical actuators is being developed to support the Air Force More Electric Airplane (MEA) program. A two-phase coolant is used in a reflux type cooler to transport heat from the actuator electric motor to a cool aircraft structural surface. Energy storage, in the form of phase change material, is incorporated into the cooler to provide load leveling between peak loads and low loads. Transient thermal analysis, which was used to select the best combination of reflux working fluid and phase change material, indicates that motor temperatures can be reduced by more than 50°C when using thermal energy storage.