Date of Award

3-2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Astronautical Engineering

Department

Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics

First Advisor

Miltion E. Franke, PhD

Abstract

Phase-change thermal energy storage devices offer thermal control systems an option that allows a smaller heat sink to be used by absorbing the thermal energy quickly and storing it in the phase change to prevent failure of electronic components and then slowly releasing the heat to the heat sink. This paper experimentally determined the transient response of carbon foam with a phase-change material by measuring the response to a step temperature input to test samples. The transient response was recorded until steady state was reached. An analytic response was created and compared against the measured response. A simplified analytic prediction of the transient response was developed by using an energy balance. This approximation was then compared against the experimental results.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GSS-ENY-05-M05

DTIC Accession Number

ADA434895

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