The thermal management of electronic systems is becoming one of the most limiting factors for military and commercial aircraft. FPGAs, electro-optics (EO/IR), radar electronics and guidance systems are all experiencing increases in power densities. The trend for increased sophistication of the thermal management system is also driven by the integration of aircraft subsystems, the conversion of mechanical systems to their electrical counterparts, and the ever-present demand for systems with lower volume, mass, and power consumption requirements than previous designs. In addition, aircraft systems must withstand extreme operating conditions, such as wide temperature ranges and large-magnitude, variable-orientation acceleration in the form of shock, vibration, and sustained maneuvers.
Common thermal solutions can no longer keep pace with these increasing demands. There is a need for innovative, reliable and cost-effective thermal management solutions. ACT is meeting this challenge by providing solutions based on our extensive experience in the design and development of advanced thermal systems. We work closely with our customers to identify thermal issues and produce thermal management components that integrate seamlessly with their products. We rely on our breadth of thermal expertise to identify the best thermal solution to meet the requirements specified by our customers. 
Some areas of our expertise include heat pipes and related technologies, pumped single and two-phase systems, vapor compression systems, and thermal storage devices. Finally, all of our aviation and aerospace products are manufactured according to the AS9100-D standard, as dictated by our quality system.
DESIGN AND ANALYSIS
ACT’s Aerospace Products team includes engineers that specialize in fluid and thermal sciences from a variety of disciplines, which include Aerospace, Chemical, Mechanical, and Nuclear Engineering. This unique combination of skill sets allows us to quickly and thoroughly understand thermal management issues and establish the optimum cooling solution to meet our customer’s needs. Thermal challenges in aviation applications can be quite demanding; requiring large operating and survival temperature ranges, high levels of power dissipation, lightweight and small volume requirements, and ruggedization to handle various missions. ACT’s engineers have developed custom solutions for this industry, always working collaboratively with the customer to ensure that the thermal design will not only meet cooling requirements, but will also survive and operate long-term.
Ruggedized Thermal Solutions
Our expert thermal engineers work hand-in-hand with our manufacturing engineers to take thermally suitable product plans and design for manufacturability, packaging and durability. ACT offers prototyping through high-rate production solutions, under our ISO9001 and AS9100 certified manufacturing and quality systems. Depending on the end-use and customer requirements, our products are routinely subjected to shock, vibration, salt/fog, and/or humidity testing to make sure they can stand the rigors of flight. ACT regularly passes stringent flight qualification programs and has flight heritage on-board aircraft, fighter jets, UAVs, high-altitude systems, and missiles. Most of our products offered across various industries have been ruggedized for aviation applications.
