The Northrop Grumman Thermal Heat Transfer Team designed and manufactured an apparatus that improved the current setup of measuring thermal properties of materials at Northrop Grumman. The previous setup had many loose parts and pieces, which resulted in a wide range of uncertainty. With this in mind, the team strove to create a system with as few moving parts as possible. Through many design iterations and various additions of “bells and whistles,” the team conceived a final design known as the Thermalyzer. 

The Thermalyzer can easily measure thermal properties of materials that will be used to make heat transfer devices. In particular, this apparatus can measure the thermal resistance and conductivity of various heat transfer devices by utilizing a heat source and heat sink. A flux block is used to calculate the heat flux into the heat transfer device and thermocouples measure the temperature along it. This device produces accurate, repeatable results, and can accommodate various rectangular geometries. The thermal properties of these heat transfer devices will be used to create more efficient electronic devices and develop electronics that can be held to a much higher standard.