OPTIMAL DESIGN OF THERMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR AIRBORNE DIRECTED ENERGY WEAPONS

Next-generation aircraft will carry directed energy weapons to ensure air superiority and significantly enhance both defensive and offensive capabilities. However, these weapons face severe thermal management challenges. This paper contributes by finely analyzing the heating mechanisms of core components within directed energy weapons and proposes a thermal management solution based on pump-driven two-phase flow. The thermal flow of the chip array layout is modeled and analyzed. The cold plate structure is optimized for the best-balanced thermal resistance and pressure drop.