Axial thermal conductivity

[Emilio101]

Hi,

is there a first hand approximation formula to calculate the thermal conductivity of a carbon fiber composite given the fiber volume % the TC of the fibers and the TC of the resin?

could someone point me to some relevant reference material?

thanks a lot

 

[Compositepro]

In the axial direction the fiber and resin are parallel heat paths. Add the thermal conductivity times area fraction of the fiber with the thermal conductivity times the area fraction of the resin. In most cases the thermal conductivity of the resin is so much lower than the fiber that the effect of the resin can be ignored.

 

[RPstress]

'Pro pretty much summed it up. If you want a reference, Barbero ("Introduction to Composite Materials Design," Ever J. Barbero, Taylor and Francis 1999) covers the basics of the micromechanics for predicting lamina (ply) properties.

Not sure of a reference for putting ply thermal properties together to get multi-directional laminate thermal properties. In the limit an FE package supporting laminated 2D materials could do it.