Numerical studies on effective thermal conductivities of the glass/polyimide composite materials under the conditions of conduction & radiation

Abstract

Composite materials are widely used in the fields of aviation and space, where their thermal properties are of importance since they are often challenged by variations of environmental temperatures. However, thermal properties of composite materials under conditions of conduction & radiation (a key mode of heat transfer in space) remain elusive. In order to address this issue, in this study, numerical simulations of the glass/polyimide composite materials were conducted to determine its effective thermal conductivity under the conduction condition with and without radiation. More specifically, unit cell models of polyimide matrix, glass-fiber yarns, and the composite materials were constructed sequentially to study the effects of the porosity and the fiber volume fraction on the effective thermal conductivities of the composite materials. Simulation results revealed that 1) an increase in porosity can reduce the effective thermal conductivity of the polyimide matrix with the maximal decreasing ratio of 39.5%; 2) an increase in fiber volume fraction can increase the transverse effective thermal conductivity of the glass-fiber yarns with the maximal increasing ratio of 49.0%; 3) differences of 26.0% and 27.6% of the in-plane and out-of-plane effective thermal conductivities of the composite materials were located under the conduction condition with and without radiation. This study provided a simulation approach to investigate thermal properties of composite materials, paving ways for their applications in the fields of aviation and space.