Bondable Cooling Fin Arrays for Use on Aircraft Gearboxes

1 . A drivetrain for an aircraft comprising:

a gearbox including a gearbox housing;

a gearbox cooling fin array including a plurality of cooling fins; and

a thermal interface material bonding the gearbox cooling fin array to the gearbox housing;

wherein, the gearbox cooling fin array is configured to dissipate heat generated by the gearbox.

2 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the gearbox further comprises a spiral bevel gearbox.

3 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the gearbox housing forms a curved surface and the gearbox cooling fin array further comprises a curved gearbox cooling fin array to contour the curved surface of the gearbox housing.

4 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the gearbox housing is formed from a different material than the gearbox cooling fin array.

5 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the gearbox cooling fin array is formed from a more thermally conductive material than the gearbox housing.

6 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the gearbox cooling fin array further comprises copper.

7 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the gearbox cooling fin array further comprises an extruded gearbox cooling fin array.

8 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the gearbox cooling fin array further comprises a flexible gearbox cooling fin array.

9 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the gearbox cooling fin array further comprises a rigid gearbox cooling fin array.

10 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the gearbox cooling fin array further comprises a plurality of segmented gearbox cooling fin arrays, each segmented gearbox cooling fin array bonded to the gearbox housing using the thermal interface material.

11 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the plurality of cooling fins further comprise a plurality of pin fins.

12 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the plurality of cooling fins further comprise splayed fins.

13 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the plurality of cooling fins further comprise parallel fins.

14 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the thermal interface material further comprises thermally conductive particulates.

15 . The drivetrain as recited in claim 1 wherein the thermal interface material forms a bond line between the gearbox cooling fin array and the gearbox housing having a depth in a range between 0.005 inches and 0.01 inches.

16 . A rotorcraft comprising:

a fuselage;

a rotor assembly coupled to the fuselage; and

a drivetrain providing rotational energy to the rotor assembly, the drivetrain comprising:

an engine;

a gearbox coupled to the engine, the gearbox including a gearbox housing;

a gearbox cooling fin array including a plurality of cooling fins; and

a thermal interface material bonding the gearbox cooling fin array to the gearbox housing;

wherein, the gearbox cooling fin array is configured to dissipate heat generated by the gearbox.

17 . The rotorcraft as recited in claim 16 wherein the rotorcraft further comprises a tiltrotor aircraft further comprising:

a wing supported by the fuselage, the wing having outboard ends; and

first and second rotatable pylon assemblies coupled to the outboard ends of the wing;

wherein, the gearbox further comprises a spiral bevel gearbox located in one of the rotatable pylon assemblies.

18 . The rotorcraft as recited in claim 16 wherein the gearbox further comprises a parallel axis gearbox.

19 . The rotorcraft as recited in claim 16 wherein the gearbox further comprises a helicopter main rotor gearbox.

20 . The rotorcraft as recited in claim 16 wherein the gearbox further comprises a tail rotor gearbox.