COOLING EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF MATERIALS IN AN AVIONICS SYSTEM

Equipment used in the aviation industry heats up over time depending on working conditions. It is possible to preserve properties of equipment affected by heat by either cooling the system and returning it to initial conditions or producing the system from materials that are not affected by heat. One of the areas where nanocomposite materials might be used is avionic systems in the aviation and space industry. These systems are structures in which elements such as sensors, cabling, and processors, which form the basis of the electronic structure of flight, are brought together in very small volumes. It is important that the material used in these structures is light and has high strength as well as corresponding electromagnetic properties. In this study, the thermal analysis of vapor-grown carbon fiber (VGCF) nanocomposite materials produced by adding them to the epoxy matrix in terms of the thermal performance of avionic boxes was carried out by comparing them with thermal properties of aluminum. As a result of the findings obtained from thermal analysis studies carried out in four stages, it was observed that by using VGCF composite instead of aluminum, approximately 23% improvement in temperature output and 17% improvement in thermal load was achieved. Another outcome obtained from the analysis was the cooler capacity. If VGCF is preferred instead of aluminum in avionics box manufacturing, a 37.5% improvement is achieved in terms of cooler capacity. Another important finding is the time to reach critical temperature levels. VGCF reaches the steady state 163.5% faster than aluminum. Thus, it is anticipated that energy efficiency will be increased with the use of lightweight and high-strength nanocomposite materials, which is considered one of the most important goals of the aviation industry.