Heat Exchanger Testing & Thermal Management

Efficient thermal management is critical for modern engineering systems, especially in aerospace, UAV, and high-performance applications.

We support the experimental evaluation of heat exchanger concepts under controlled airflow and environmental conditions, enabling comparison of designs, materials, and performance limits.

Why Heat Exchanger Testing Matters

In many systems, thermal performance directly limits functionality, efficiency, and reliability.

Typical challenges include:

  • Removal of heat from compact and high-power components
  • Maintaining performance under varying environmental conditions
  • Ensuring sufficient cooling under constrained airflow and pressure conditions
  • Preventing performance degradation due to icing or contamination

Experimental validation is essential to understand how heat exchanger designs perform under realistic operating conditions.

Typical Applications in Aerospace & Advanced Systems

Heat exchangers are widely used in aviation and related industries for cooling critical subsystems.

Examples include:

  • Cooling of avionics and electronic systems
  • Thermal management of power electronics and electric propulsion systems
  • Environmental control systems (ECS)
  • Cooling of hydraulic or lubrication systems
  • Battery and energy storage thermal management (e.g. in UAVs and eVTOLs)

In many of these applications, heat exchangers are exposed to high-speed external airflow and must operate reliably under varying environmental conditions.

Experimental Setup & Capabilities

We evaluate heat exchanger performance using controlled airflow conditions within the wind tunnel environment.

Typical test configurations include:

  • Primary circuit: heat-carrying fluid (e.g. glycol or similar media)
  • Secondary circuit: controlled air flow through the heat exchanger

This enables:

  • Measurement of heat transfer performance
  • Comparison of different geometries and materials
  • Evaluation under varying airflow velocities and temperatures

The setup is particularly suited for:

  • Compact heat exchanger concepts
  • Additively manufactured (e.g. 3D-printed metal) structures
  • Early-stage design evaluation and comparison

Environmental & Icing Effects

In addition to thermal performance, environmental effects can play a critical role.

We investigate:

  • Impact of ambient temperature on performance
  • Icing risk and ice accretion on heat exchanger surfaces
  • Potential blockage or performance degradation due to ice formation

This is particularly relevant for systems exposed to cold and humid environments, where icing can significantly reduce heat transfer efficiency.

Design Comparison & Optimization

Our testing approach allows direct comparison of different concepts, including:

  • Geometrical variations (e.g. channel structures, fin designs)
  • Material choices
  • Surface treatments or coatings

By testing multiple variants under controlled conditions, performance trends and trade-offs can be identified early in development.

Practical Constraints & Test Scope

The test environment is optimized for component-level investigations and flexible experimentation.

Typical constraints include:

  • Maximum sample size limited by the test section (~150 × 100 mm cross-section)
  • Airflow conditions representative of moderate to high-speed external flow
  • Limited capability for extremely high pressure drop configurations

As a result, testing focuses on:

  • Comparative performance evaluation
  • Early-stage validation and screening
  • Identification of critical design characteristics

Rather than full-scale system qualification.

Designed for Early-Stage Development

Heat exchanger development often involves a large design space with many unknowns.

We support:

  • Rapid screening of design variants
  • Identification of promising concepts
  • Experimental validation prior to large-scale development

This enables more efficient design iteration and reduces development risk.

Relevant Industries

Heat exchanger testing under realistic airflow conditions is relevant for:

  • Aerospace and aviation
    (cooling of avionics, ECS, propulsion-related systems)
  • UAV, drone, and eVTOL systems
    (battery cooling, power electronics, compact thermal systems)
  • Automotive and electric mobility
    (thermal management of batteries and electronics)
  • Defense and high-performance systems
    (reliable operation under harsh environmental conditions)
  • Electronics and energy systems
    (cooling of compact and high-power components)