Next-generation avionics packaging and cooling `test results from a prototype system´

The author reports on the design, material characteristics, and test results obtained under the US Air Force´s advanced aircraft avionics packaging technologies (AAAPT) program, whose charter is to investigate new designs and technologies for reliable packaging, interconnection, and thermal management. Under this program, AT&T Bell Laboratories has completed the preliminary testing of and is evaluating a number of promising materials and technologies, including conformal encapsulation, liquid flow-through cooling, and a cyanate ester backplane. A fifty-two module system incorporating these and other technologies has undergone preliminary cooling efficiency, shock, sine and random vibration, and maintenance testing. One of the primary objectives was to evaluate the interaction compatibility of new materials and designs with other components in the system