Composite thermal conductivity

In contrast, there is also current interest in investigating PAN-based fibers in low thermal conductivity composites [62], Such fibers are carbonized at low temperature and offer a substitute to rayon-based carbon fibers in composites designed for solid rocket motor nozzles and exit cones. 

Ting, J.M. Guth, J.R.and Lake, M.L., Light weight, highly thermal conductive composites for space radiators, Ceram., Eng. Sci. Proc., July-Aug., 1995, pp. 279. 288. 

An algorithm has been developed to predict the thermal conductivity degradation for a high thermal conductivity composite ( 555 W/m-K at room temperature) as a function of radiation dose and temperature [33]. The absence of irradiation data on CFCs of this type required the use of data from intermediate thermal conductivity materials as well as pyrolitic graphite to derive an empirical radiation damage term [14, 17, 19, 25, 26]. 

Sharp, K., Bogdanovich, A.E., Tang, W., Heider, D., Advani, S., Glowiana, M., 2008b. High through-thickness thermal conductivity composites based on three-dimensional woven fiber architectures. AIAA J. 46 (11), 2944—2954. 

Owing to their unique electronic, thermal, and mechanical properties, CNTs represent ideal candidates for filler material in nanocomposites. Researchers envision utilizing the high aspect ratio and conductivity of nanotubes to develop conductive plastics with very low percolation thresholds. Moreover, thermally conductive composites are a second avenue of nanocomposite research.The most promising area of nanocomposite research, however, involves the use of CNTs as reinforcing fillers for plastics. ... 

The polymer matrices in advanced thermally conductive composites include thermosetting and thermoplastic types. Figure 11.1 shows thermal conduction properties of some typical polymer matrices. The most used polymers for composite... 

Sharp, G. R. Lightweight, Thermally Conductive Composite Material. NASA Technical Briefs Report LEW-14814, p. 66, Mar. 1990. 

CNTs have a high thermal conductivity, therefore it seems quite natural that they should be attractive candidates for thermally conductive composites. Perhaps, surprisingly, this is only... 

From general overview in the preceding, it appears that very limited thermal conductivity is usually characteristic of polymers. On the other hand, there are many reasons to increase thermal conductivity of polymer based materials in various industrial applications including circuit boards in power electronics, heat exchangers, electronics appliances and machinery. This justifies the recent significant research efforts on thermally conductive composite materials to overcome the limitations of traditional polymers [10]. 

Based on the present work, CNTs remain one of the most promising thermally conductive filler types of polymers. However, significant advances are still needed to obtain thermally conductive composites adequately efficient to meet the requirements of most applications. 

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