Aircrew Personal Environmental Control System (Apecs) for F-16 And F-15 Aircraft - Design, Development, and Implementation

摘要

Aircrew for advanced fighter aircraft wear a complex, multilayered ensemble which poses a significant thermal burden by inhibiting normal heat transport. The inability of the body to get rid of excess metabolic heat can at least cause discomfort, but may also de-grade mission effectiveness and pose a serious safety threat. The Aircrew Personal Environmental Control System (APECS) was designed to address this need. The system makes use of chilled liquid pumped through a cooling garment worn against the skin, under the aircrew's flight ensemble, to remove metabolic heat. Heat rejection takes place through heat exchangers mounted in cockpit air ducts supplied from the aircraft's Environmental Control System (ECS). The system has been designed to be used in both F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft, but could also be used with other tactical platforms having ECS systems. To date, design and integration studies have been completed for those aircraft, and prototype hardware has been produced. The system has been demonstrated in laboratory tests, physiological studies in an environmental chamber, as well as flight tested aboard an F-16XL at NASA DFRC. Basic system description, performance test, as well as flight demonstration results are reported here. Physiological test results in a heated chamber are reported separately.