Predicting the equivalent thermal conductivity of pyramidal lattice core sandwich structures based on Monte Carlo model

Abstract

An analytical model is presented to predict the equivalent thermal conductivity of the pyramidal lattice core sandwich structure. The equivalent thermal conductivity of the pyramidal lattice core sandwich structure is attributed to both conduction and radiation. The equivalent thermal conductivity caused by heat conduction is evaluated based on Fourier's law. The configuration factor is calculated by the Monte Carlo method considering the effect of radiation in all directions. The predictions are compared with the previous analytical and experimental results. It reveals that the present model is more accurate in estimating the equivalent thermal conductivity for the pyramidal lattice core sandwich structures. The effects of the geometrical parameters, solid emissivity and temperature on the equivalent thermal conductivity of the pyramidal lattice core sandwich structures are well discussed.