Thermal Shape Optimization of Canopy Structure for Enhancing Heat Transfer Characteristics due to Natural Circulation

Recently, an increased demand for the development of unmanned systems and surveillance technologies, as well as a rapid increase in demand for high-performance camera sensor, has been observed due to the export and advancement of defense technology. The heat generated by camera sensors is also increasing as a result of camera performance improvement, and the importance of camera can lead to reduces target detection accuracy, misidentification, and camera sensor failure. In this study, an optimal canopy shape inducing the stack effect was designed to enhance the heat removal performance of camera systems installed on naval vessels. Through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis, a reduction of approximately 2.3℃ in the component temperature, measured by maximum temperature inside the camera sensor, was confirmed compared to the existing shape. The improvement in cooling performance is derived from the increased flow rated facilitated by natural convection, and it was observed that natural circulation flow rate significantly increases non-linearly as the curvature radius decrease, with a concurrent 43.76% increase in heat transfer rate. In conclusion, the optimization of camera sensor heat removal performance through natural convection, induced by the optimal design of the canopy, was achieved.