Significantly improving thermal conductivity of carbon fiber polymer composite by weaving highly conductive films

Abstract

This paper significantly improved the transverse thermal conductivity (TC) of unidirectional carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates by a simple and effective method of weaving highly conductive films (HCFs), including Copper (Cu) film and highly oriented graphite film (HOGF). The TC and interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of HCF enhanced CFRP (HCF-CFRP) composite laminates were measured. The results show that the HCF-CFRP composite with a larger geometric undulation of HCF has a higher through-thickness TC. And the through-thickness and in-plane transverse TCs can be regulated by the undulation of HCF. The maximum through-thickness TCs of HCF-CFRPs are up to 49.19 W m−1 K−1 for HOGF-CFRP with 1.97 vol% HOGF, and up to 21.45 W m−1 K−1 for Cu-CFRP with 1.74 vol% Cu film, which are 11029% and 4753% higher than that of CFRP, respectively. Numerical simulation and infrared thermography demonstrate that the geometric undulation and ultrahigh in-plane TC of HOGF lead to the formation of a rapid through-thickness heat transfer path. In addition, the ILSSs of HOGF-CFRP and Cu-CFRP are 44.01 and 40.91 MPa, respectively, which are 13.76% and 19.77% lower than that of CFRP.