RELIABILITY GROWTH OF STIRLING-CYCLE COOLERS AT L-3 CE

L-3 Communications is conducting a reliability growth program to extend the life of Stirling-cycle cryocoolers. The continuous product improvement processes consist of testing production coolers to failure (cooler fails to operate or fails to maintain the thermal mass at the required cold tip temperature with the required input power and heat load applied), determining the root cause, incorporating improvements and verification. The most recent life test data for the 0.6-Watt Cooler (Model B600C), the 1.5-Watt Cooler (Model B1500E), and the Gas Bearing 1.0-Watt Cooler (Model GB1000E) are presented. From the life test data, sets of empirical constants are derived for life prediction, for any operating condition using the Watt-Hour approach. The data presented here extends the boundary of life data in previous papers from the authors.