A generalized correlation for predicting the thermal conductivity of composites with heterogeneous nanofillers. (November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ngo, Ich-Long; Byon, Chan
• Is Part Of: International journal of heat and mass transfer. Volume 90(2015:Nov.)
• Page Start: 894
• Page End: 899
• Publication Date: 2015-11
• Subjects: Composite material -- Finite element method -- Heterogeneous fillers -- Nanoparticle -- Thermal conductivity; Heat -- Transmission -- Periodicals; Mass transfer -- Periodicals; Chaleur -- Transmission -- Périodiques; Transfert de masse -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 621.4022
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2015.06.069
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0017-9310

Abstract

Highlights: The effect of heterogeneous nanofillers on the thermal conductivity is investigated numerically. The effects of thermal conductivity ratios of filler materials and volume fractions are considered. A correlation for predicting the thermal conductivity is proposed. The behavior of thermal conductivity with respect to geometric parameters is explained. Abstract: Adding dual kinds of nanoparticle fillers with higher thermal conductivity (TC) into matrix materials provides versatile and effective means for enhancing the TC of polymer materials. In this study, the effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of composite materials with heterogeneous-filler-nanoparticles is investigated based on an extensive FEM numerical study, in terms of the TC ratios between the filler particles and the matrix material ( κ 1 and κ 2 ), and the volume fractions (VFs) of each filler particle ( ϕ 1 and ϕ 2 ). The results indicate that the ETC of composite material significantly depends on TC ratio between two fillers ( κ 1 / κ 2 ). In addition, there exists a maximum ETC according to each sum of TC ratio ( κ 1 + κ 2 ). The asymmetric behavior of ETC in terms of the TC ratio between two fillers becomes symmetric when two fillers has the same VF. Based on the numerical results for a wide range of geometric parameters, a generalized correlation for predicting ETC is proposed as a function of four non-dimensional parameters: ϕ 1, ϕ 2, κ 1, and κ 2 . The correlation is valid for the entire practical range of parameters (0 < ϕ 1 or ϕ 2 < 0.4; 1 < κ 1 or κ 2 < 10 4 ), and can be widely utilized for predicting the TC of nanoparticle-added composite materials.