Thermal Conductivity Coefficients of Unidirectional Fiber Composites Defined by the Concept of Interphase

Abstract

In this paper, the thermal conductivity coefficients of unidirectional composites have been estimated. In the present analysis, a model which takes into account the influence of the boundary interphase has been proposed. The thermal conductivity coefficients of the composite were calculated by using this concept to determine the role of the interphase which mainly depends on the quality of adhesion between fibers and matrix. The interphase matter is the part of the polymer matrix lying on the close vicinity of the fiber bounding surface. It has been primarily assumed that the interphase is inhomogeneous with thermophysical properties varying from the fiber surface to the matrix. Five laws of variation have been taken into consideration in order to derive closed form expressions for the thermal conductivity coefficients in which the role of the interphase layer occurs, possessing properties different from those of the constituent phases. A thermal analysis method known in the literature has been adopted in order to find the extent of the interphase layer. According to this viewpoint, theoretical expressions in order to calculate the thermal conductivity coefficients of the glass fiber reinforced composite materials were derived taking into consideration the interphase layer.