Thermal Characteristics of Standardized Air Force Avionic Enclosures

A series of thermal analyses and tests have been conducted on several avionic enclosures, or “black boxes”, with the enclosure designs being representative of those covered under a new Air Force standard. As a part of this effort, the thermal characteristics of various state-of-the-art hardware elements were investigated, including their effect on overall enclosure thermal performance. Using this data, analyses and tests were then carried out on complete enclosures, with the results indicating that power levels up to 1 watt/in³ could be achieved without exceeding device junction temperature limits.