KR102751252B1 - Cooling air temperature control unit of air-cooled aesa radar and air-cooled aesa radar - Google Patents

Abstract

A cooling air temperature control unit for an air-cooled AESA radar is provided. The cooling air temperature control unit for an air-cooled AESA radar includes an antenna having a transmitting/receiving module assembly and an air supply pipe provided at the rear of the antenna to supply air into the interior of the antenna, and is provided to an air-cooled AESA radar mounted on a bulkhead in a nose section of an aircraft, and includes: i) a thermoelectric element that is coupled to a surface of the air supply pipe and has a length corresponding to the length of the air supply pipe located at the rear of the bulkhead and cools or heats the air supply pipe, ii) a heat sink coupled to the thermoelectric element, and iii) a control unit that controls the thermoelectric element.

Description

COOLING AIR TEMPERATURE CONTROL UNIT OF AIR-COOLED AESA RADAR AND AIR-COOLED AESA RADAR

The present invention relates to an air-cooled AESA radar. More specifically, the present invention relates to a cooling air temperature control unit for an air-cooled AESA radar.

AESA (Active Electronically Scanning Array) radar detects and tracks distant objects by arranging a large number of transmit/receive modules (TR Modules) on the antenna to radiate a large amount of RF energy and receive the RF energy that hits the target and returns. At this time, a significant amount of energy accumulates inside the antenna in the form of heat energy due to the low efficiency of the high power amplifier (HPA) of the transmit/receive module while transmitting. Since the desired RF output cannot be obtained if the heat caused by the high power amplifier is not sufficiently cooled, it is important to prevent the temperature of the transmit/receive module from rising above a certain value and to maintain a uniform temperature.

Most AESA radars have used water-cooling for high-performance heat dissipation, but recently, air-cooling has been adopted for small and medium-sized AESA radars. When air-cooling is applied to small and medium-sized AESA radars, the weight of the coolant can be reduced, making them lighter. However, unlike coolant, cooling air has low cooling efficiency, so lower-temperature cooling air must be supplied quickly. Otherwise, the antenna cannot be cooled evenly. However, the platform's ECS (Environmental Condition System) has limitations in providing sufficient low temperatures.

In addition, military equipment can often break down due to sudden operation in high temperature and high humidity conditions during the hottest summer months, and can break down due to sudden operation in low temperature conditions during the coldest winter months.

It is an object to provide a cooling air temperature control unit for an air-cooled AESA radar. More specifically, it is an object to provide a cooling air temperature control unit capable of easily controlling the temperature of cooling air supplied to the interior of an air-cooled AESA radar to cool a transmit/receive module (or a transmit/receive module assembly).

We also intend to provide an air-cooled AESA radar including a cooling air temperature control unit.

A cooling air temperature control unit of an air-cooled AESA radar according to an embodiment of the present invention easily controls the temperature of cooling air supplied into the interior of an air-cooled AESA radar. The cooling air temperature control unit of an air-cooled AESA radar includes an antenna having a transmitting/receiving module assembly, and an air supply pipe provided at the rear of the antenna to supply air into the interior of the antenna, and is provided to an air-cooled AESA radar mounted on a bulkhead in a nose section of an aircraft, and includes i) a thermoelectric element coupled to a surface of the air supply pipe, having a length corresponding to the length of the air supply pipe located at the rear of the bulkhead, and cooling or heating the air supply pipe, ii) a heat sink coupled to the thermoelectric element, and iii) a control unit that controls the thermoelectric element.

The cooling air temperature control unit of the AESA radar includes a first temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the transmit/receive module assembly, and a second temperature sensor for measuring the temperature around the antenna, and the control unit can control the thermoelectric element based on the measurement values of the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor.

The control unit can control the thermoelectric element to be cooled based on the highest temperature part of the transmission/reception module assembly when the temperature around the antenna is 0°C or higher, and can control the thermoelectric element to be heated based on the lowest temperature part of the transmission/reception module assembly when the temperature around the antenna is lower than 0°C.

The cooling air temperature control unit of the AESA radar includes a humidity sensor that measures humidity around the antenna, and the control unit can control the thermoelectric element based on the measurement value of the humidity sensor.

An air-cooled AESA radar according to an embodiment of the present invention has excellent cooling efficiency. The air-cooled AESA radar comprises: i) an antenna having a transmit/receive module assembly; ii) an air supply pipe provided at the rear of the antenna for supplying air into the interior of the antenna; and iii) a cooling air temperature control unit for controlling the temperature of cooling air supplied to the air supply pipe. The antenna is provided to be mounted on a bulkhead in a nose section of an aircraft, the air supply pipe is located entirely or partially at the rear of the bulkhead, and the cooling air temperature control unit comprises: i) a thermoelectric element coupled to a surface of the air supply pipe and having a length corresponding to the length of the air supply pipe located at the rear of the bulkhead, the thermoelectric element cooling or heating the air supply pipe, ii) a heat sink coupled to the thermoelectric element, and iii) a control unit for controlling the thermoelectric element.

The cross section of the air supply pipe can be provided in a rectangular shape.

The cooling air temperature control unit includes a first temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the transmitting/receiving module assembly, and a second temperature sensor for measuring the temperature around the antenna, and the control unit can control the thermoelectric element based on the measurement values of the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor.

The cooling air temperature control unit includes a humidity sensor that measures humidity around the antenna, and the control unit can control the thermoelectric element based on the measurement value of the humidity sensor.

A cooling air temperature control unit of an air-cooled AESA radar according to an embodiment can additionally cool the cooling air supplied to the air-cooled AESA radar to improve the cooling capacity.

Figure 1 shows a schematic structure of an air-cooled AESA radar according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 shows a view of the air supply pipe of Figure 1 equipped with a thermoelectric element and a heat sink.
Figure 3 shows a schematic operation procedure of the control unit of Figure 1.
Fig. 4 is a modified example of the cooling air temperature control unit of Fig. 1.
Figure 5 shows a front view of Figure 4.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural forms as well, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. The word “comprising,” as used herein, specifies particular features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of other particular features, regions, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries are additionally interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the relevant technical literature and the presently disclosed content, and are not interpreted in an ideal or very formal meaning unless defined. As an example, "applied" described below is interpreted to include both a state of being suitably used and a state before being suitably used.

In this specification, expressions described in the singular may be interpreted as singular or plural, unless explicit expressions such as “one” or “singular” are used.

In this specification, terms including ordinal numbers such as first, second, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, the first component may be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component.

In the flowcharts described with reference to the drawings in this specification, the order of operations may be changed, several operations may be merged, some operations may be split, and certain operations may not be performed.

Hereinafter, with reference to the attached drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily implement the present invention. However, the present invention may be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of an air-cooled AESA radar according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a thermoelectric element and a heat sink provided in the air supply pipe of FIG. 1.

AESA (Active Electronically Scanning Array) radar is not like conventional mechanical radars in that the transmitter and receiver are separate and rotate, but rather the front half of the radar is fixed with thousands of small integrated transmitter and receiver modules attached to perform various functions. In addition, it can cover a sufficient area even without rotating.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the air-cooled AESA radar (100) includes an antenna (110), an air supply pipe (120), an air exhaust pipe (130), and a cooling air temperature control unit (200).

Inside the antenna (110), a transmit/receive module assembly (111) composed of a large number of transmit/receive modules (TR Modules) is provided. The antenna (110) is coupled to a bulkhead (BH) in the nose section of the aircraft and can be positioned inside a radome (RD).

An air supply pipe (120) and an air discharge pipe (130) are provided at the rear of the antenna (110). The air supply pipe (120) may be located entirely or partially at the rear of the bulkhead (BH). The air supply pipe (120) supplies cooling air (CA) to cool the transmission/reception module assembly (111) inside the antenna (110).

The air exhaust pipe (130) exhausts cooling air (CA) circulated inside the antenna (110) to the outside of the antenna (110). The air exhaust pipe (130) may be located entirely or partially at the rear of the bulkhead (BH). The position of the air exhaust pipe (130) is not limited to the position shown in the drawing and may be changed depending on the shape of the cooling path inside the antenna (110).

The cooling air temperature control unit (200) may include a thermoelectric element (210), a heat sink (230), a control unit (250), a first temperature sensor (260), a second temperature sensor (270), and a humidity sensor (280).

A thermoelectric semiconductor (210) is provided on the surface of the air supply pipe (120). The thermoelectric semiconductor (210) is provided to have a length corresponding to the length of the air supply pipe (120) located at the rear of the bulkhead (BH). The thermoelectric semiconductor (210) is a component that generates a temperature difference when voltage is applied, and is a component that generates the Peltier effect that causes heat absorption or generation by current. By utilizing this, the thermoelectric semiconductor (210) directly cools or heats the air supply pipe (120).

A heat sink (230) is attached to a thermoelectric element (210) and dissipates heat generated from the thermoelectric element (210). The heat sink (230) may include a plurality of heat dissipation fins, and the plurality of heat dissipation fins may be arranged in parallel.

In order to maximize the contact area between the air supply pipe (120) and the thermoelectric element (210), the cross section of the air supply pipe (120) may be provided in a rectangular shape, and at this time, the thermoelectric element (210) and the heat sink (230) may be provided as a set on each side of the air supply pipe (120).

The control unit (250) directly controls the thermoelectric element (210). The control unit (250) causes the thermoelectric element (210) to be cooled or heated depending on various conditions. The control unit (250) can be linked with the first temperature sensor (260), the second temperature sensor (270), and the humidity sensor (280).

The first temperature sensor (260) measures the temperature of the transmission/reception module assembly (111). The first temperature sensor (260) can measure the temperature distribution of the transmission/reception module assembly (111). The first temperature sensor (260) can be located inside the antenna (110).

The second temperature sensor (270) measures the temperature around the antenna (110). The second temperature sensor (270) may be provided around the antenna (110). The second temperature sensor (270) may be provided inside or outside the bay dome (RD). It is preferable that the second temperature sensor (270) be spaced apart from the air supply pipe (120) and the air discharge pipe (130) so that no error occurs when measuring the temperature.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic operation procedure of the control unit of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 3, the control unit (250) may be provided to control the thermoelectric element (210) based on the measurement values of the first temperature sensor (260) and the second temperature sensor (270). Specifically, the control unit (250) may be provided to control the thermoelectric element (210) to be cooled based on the part with the highest temperature in the transmission/reception module assembly (111) when the temperature around the antenna (110) is higher than the set temperature, and to control the thermoelectric element (210) to be heated based on the part with the lowest temperature in the transmission/reception module assembly (111) when the temperature around the antenna (110) is lower than the set temperature. The above set temperature may be 0°C.

The humidity sensor (280) measures the humidity around the antenna (110). The humidity sensor (280) may be provided inside or outside the bay dome (RD). It is preferable that the humidity sensor (280) be separated from the air supply pipe (120) and the air discharge pipe (130) so that errors do not occur when measuring humidity.

The control unit (250) may be provided to control the thermoelectric element (210) based on the measurement value of the humidity sensor (280). That is, when the humidity is measured and the humidity is high, the control unit (250) cools the thermoelectric element (210) to lower the humidity.

Based on the information acquired by the first temperature sensor (260), the second temperature sensor (270), and the humidity sensor (280), the control unit (250) can control the thermoelectric element (210). For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in <Mode1>, when the highest temperature among the plurality of first temperature sensors (260) is equal to or higher than the first set temperature, or when the highest temperature among the plurality of first temperature sensors (260) is equal to or lower than the first set temperature and the humidity measured by the humidity sensor (280) is equal to or higher than the set humidity, the thermoelectric element (210) may be operated in cooling mode by the control unit (250), and in <Mode2>, when the highest temperature among the plurality of first temperature sensors (260) is equal to or lower than the first set temperature and the humidity measured by the humidity sensor (280) is equal to or lower than the set humidity, the thermoelectric element (210) may be operated in heating mode by the control unit (250).

The receiving module assembly (111) may be provided to be managed at a temperature of 60°C or less.

The cooling air temperature control unit (200) can improve the cooling capacity by additionally cooling the cooling air (CA) supplied to the air-cooled AESA radar (100), thereby increasing the capacity and duty cycle of the high-power amplifier. In addition, the cooling air temperature control unit (200) measures the temperature at the initial startup of the air-cooled AESA radar (100) and cools or heats the cooling air (CA) in the standby state to maintain the temperature at the optimal operating temperature before using the air-cooled AESA radar (100), thereby reducing the failure rate of the AESA radar (100).

In addition, since the thermoelectric element (210) and heat sink (230) of the cooling air temperature control unit (200) can be installed at the rear of the bulkhead (BH) of the aircraft, there is little burden on the weight and volume increase of the air-cooled AESA radar (100).

FIG. 4 is a modified example of the cooling air temperature control unit of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 shows a front view of FIG. 4. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, when the size of the antenna (110) is large, it may be difficult for the cooling air (CA) to smoothly diffuse from the inside of the antenna (110) to the edge, and thus additional cooling may be required. In this case, the transmission/reception module assembly (111) may be provided in an angular shape, and an additional thermoelectric element (220) and a heat sink (240) (separate from the thermoelectric element (210) and the heat sink (230) provided in the air supply pipe (120)) may be provided on the upper portion of the housing of the antenna (110). At this time, it is preferable that an empty space forming a path for the cooling air (CA) be provided between the housing of the antenna (110) and the upper portion of the transmission/reception module assembly (111). The thermoelectric element (220) and the heat sink (240) are controlled by the control unit (250).

Although the present invention has been described in the foregoing manner, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations are possible without departing from the concept and scope of the claims set forth below.

100. Air-cooled AESA radar
110. Antenna
111. Transmitter/Receiver Module Assembly
120. Air supply pipe
130. Air exhaust pipe
200. Cooling air temperature control unit
210, 220. Thermoelectric element
230, 240. Heat sink
250. Control Unit
260. 1st temperature sensor
270. Second temperature sensor
280. Humidity sensor
BH. Bulkhead
RD. Radome
CA. Cooling air

Claims (10)

delete delete An air-cooled AESA radar is provided on a bulkhead in the nose of an aircraft, comprising an antenna having a transceiver module assembly and an air supply pipe provided at the rear of the antenna for supplying air to the interior of the antenna.
A first thermoelectric element, which is coupled to the surface of the air supply pipe and has a length corresponding to the length of the air supply pipe located at the rear of the bulkhead, and cools or heats the air supply pipe;
A first heat sink coupled to the first thermoelectric element;
A second thermoelectric element coupled to the upper portion of the antenna;
A second heat sink coupled to the second thermoelectric element;
A control unit that controls the first thermoelectric element and the second thermoelectric element,
A first temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the above-mentioned transmission/reception module assembly, and
A second temperature sensor for measuring the temperature around the antenna
Including,
The above control unit,
Controlling the first thermoelectric element and the second thermoelectric element based on the measurement values of the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor,
When the temperature around the antenna is 0℃ or higher, the first thermoelectric element is controlled to be cooled based on the part with the highest temperature in the transmission/reception module assembly.
A cooling air temperature control unit for an air-cooled AESA radar that controls the first thermoelectric element to be heated based on the lowest temperature part of the transmission/reception module assembly when the temperature around the antenna is below 0℃. delete An air-cooled AESA radar is provided on a bulkhead in the nose of an aircraft, comprising an antenna having a transceiver module assembly and an air supply pipe provided at the rear of the antenna for supplying air to the interior of the antenna.
A first thermoelectric element, which is coupled to the surface of the air supply pipe and has a length corresponding to the length of the air supply pipe located at the rear of the bulkhead, and cools or heats the air supply pipe;
A first heat sink coupled to the first thermoelectric element;
A second thermoelectric element coupled to the upper portion of the antenna;
A second heat sink coupled to the second thermoelectric element, and
A control unit that controls the first thermoelectric element and the second thermoelectric element
Cooling air temperature control unit for air-cooled AESA radar including. In Article 5,
A first temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the above-mentioned transmission/reception module assembly, and
A second temperature sensor for measuring the temperature around the antenna
Including,
The above control unit,
A cooling air temperature control unit of an air-cooled AESA radar that controls the first thermoelectric element and the second thermoelectric element based on the measured values of the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor. An antenna having a transmitter/receiver module assembly,
An air supply pipe provided at the rear end of the antenna for supplying air into the interior of the antenna, and
A cooling air temperature control unit that controls the temperature of cooling air supplied to the above air supply pipe
Including,
The above antenna is provided to be mounted on the bulkhead of the nose of the aircraft,
The above air supply pipe is located entirely or partially at the rear of the bulkhead,
The above cooling air temperature control unit,
A first thermoelectric element, which is coupled to the surface of the air supply pipe of the imagination machine and has a length corresponding to the length of the air supply pipe located at the rear of the bulkhead, and cools or heats the air supply pipe;
A first heat sink coupled to the first thermoelectric element;
A second thermoelectric element coupled to the upper portion of the antenna;
A second heat sink coupled to the second thermoelectric element, and
A control unit that controls the first thermoelectric element and the second thermoelectric element
Air-cooled AESA radar including . In Article 7,
The cross section of the above air supply pipe is provided in a rectangular shape for an air-cooled AESA radar. In Article 7,
A first temperature sensor for measuring the temperature of the above-mentioned transmission/reception module assembly, and
A second temperature sensor for measuring the temperature around the antenna
Including,
The above control unit,
An air-cooled AESA radar that controls the first thermoelectric element and the second thermoelectric element based on the measured values of the first temperature sensor and the second temperature sensor. In Article 7,
A humidity sensor that measures the humidity around the antenna
Including,
The above control unit,
An air-cooled AESA radar that controls the first thermoelectric element and the second thermoelectric element based on the measured values of the humidity sensor.