TY - JOUR
TI - Numerical investigation of steady-state thermal behavior of an infrared detector cryo chamber
AU - Singhal Mayank
AU - Singhal Gaurav
AU - Verma Avinash C
AU - Kumar Sushil
AU - Singh Manmohan
JN - Thermal Science
PY - 2017
VL - 21
IS - 3
SP - 1203
EP - 1212
PT - Article
AB - An infrared (IR) detector is simply a transducer of radiant energy, converting radiant energy into a measurable form. Since radiation does not rely on visible light, it offers the possibility of seeing in the dark or through obscured conditions, by detecting the IR energy emitted by objects. One of the prime applications of IR detector systems for military use is in target acquisition and tracking of projectile systems. The IR detectors also have great potential in commercial market. Typically, IR detectors perform best when cooled to cryogenic temperatures in the range of nearly 120 K. However, the necessity to operate in such cryogenic regimes makes the application of IR detectors extremely complex. Further, prior to proceeding on to a full blown transient thermal analysis it is worthwhile to perform a steady-state numerical analysis for ascertaining the effect of variation in viz., material, gas conduction coefficient, h, emissivity, ε, on the temperature profile along the cryo chamber length. This would enable understanding the interaction between the cryo chamber and its environment. Hence, the present work focuses on the development of steady-state numerical models for thermal analysis of IR cryo chamber using MATLAB. The numerical results show that gas conduction coefficient has marked influence on the temperature profile of the cryo chamber whereas the emissivity has a weak effect. The experimental validation of numerical results has also been presented.