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Thermal conductivity of particulate filled polymer composites

Amar Patnaik, Md Abdula, Sandhyarani Biswas, Alok Satapathy

Thermal conductivity of a polymer composite is a function of resin type, fiber type and filler content, direction of heat flow, and service temperature. Recognizing the thermal responses in Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composite play a critical role in their performance, accurate thermal measurements of FRP are essential. Thermal conductivity measurements are performed up to a filler concentration of 4wt%and 8 wt%. The objective of the research is to attain better understanding of global and local thermal behavior of a composite structural system through fundamental understanding of thermal conductivity properties. The literature reveals that a major focus has been placed on measurements of thermal conductivity in through-thethickness direction of a FRP composite. Therefore, current research focus has been on characterization of thermal conductivity in the planar direction (along the direction of fiber and transverse direction of fiber) of a composite laminate. The characterization has been carried out using ‘Guarded heat flowmeter method’ in accordance with ASTM E 1530. The results obtained from this study are useful for the prediction of thermal conductivity of pine bark reinforced epoxy resin composites with or with out filler content. The results can be used to provide guidance on filler selection for compounding for outdoor insulation applications.