A Numerical Study on the Thermal Conductivity of Hybrid-Filler-Nanoparticle Composite Materials

Author(s):  
Ich-Long Ngo ◽  
Chan Byon

Augmenting the thermal conductivity of polymer materials is actively being attempted by adding one or more fillers with higher thermal conductivity into matrix materials. In this study, the effective thermal conductivity of composite materials was investigated numerically under the effects of the thermal conductivity ratio between two particle fillers and the matrix material, and the particle volume fractions. The results indicate that the effective thermal conductivity of composites containing hybrid filler is higher than that of single filler. The effective thermal conductivity increases with the increase of thermal conductivity ratio between two fillers in general when this ratio is less than unity, and the maximum effective thermal conductivity approaches when this ratio is less than and close to unity. However, this trend is changed when this ratio is greater than unity. Based on the results, a generalized correlation is proposed as a function of four non-dimensional parameters. The results obtained in this study can be widely utilized for predicting the thermal conductivity of hybrid-filler-nanoparticle composite materials.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruifeng CAO ◽  
Taotao WANG ◽  
Yuxuan ZHANG ◽  
Hui WANG

Improved heat transfer in composites consisting of guar gel matrix and randomly distributed glass microspheres is extensively studied to predict the effective thermal conductivity of composites using the finite element method. In the study, the proper and probabilistic three-dimensional random distribution of microspheres in the continuous matrix is automatically generated by a simple and efficient random sequential adsorption algorithm which is developed by considering the correlation of three factors including particle size, number of particles, and particle volume fraction controlling the geometric configuration of random packing. Then the dependences of the effective thermal conductivity of composite materials on some important factors are investigated numerically, including the particle volume fraction, the particle spatial distribution, the number of particles, the nonuniformity of particle size, the particle dispersion morphology and the thermal conductivity contrast between particle and matrix. The related numerical results are compared with theoretical predictions and available experimental results to assess the validity of the numerical model. These results can provide good guidance for the design of advanced microsphere reinforced composite materials.


Mechanika ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-133
Author(s):  
Thansekhar M.Rathinam

A numerical study of conjugate free convection heat transfer of Al2O3/water nanofluid inside a differentially heated square enclosure with a baffle attached to its hot wall has been carried out. A detailed parametric study has been carried out to analyze the effect of Rayleigh number (104 < Ra < 106), length, thickness and position of baffle, conductivity ratio and volume fraction of the nanoparticle (0<<0.2) on heat transfer. The thermal conductivity ratio of the baffle plays a major role on the conjugate heat transfer inside the enclosure. Higher the baffle length better is the effectiveness of the baffle. The average Nusselt number is found to be an increasing function of both thermal conductivity ratio and volume fraction of the nanofluid. The minimum enhancement of conjugate heat transfer is 30% when Al2O3/water nanofluid of 0.1 volume fraction is used for the entire range of Rayleigh number considered.


2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julaporn Kaenton ◽  
Victoria Timchenko ◽  
Mohammed El Ganaoui ◽  
Graham de Vahl Davis ◽  
Eddie Leonardi ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojian Wang ◽  
Xiaohu Niu ◽  
Wensheng Kang ◽  
Xiaoxue Wang ◽  
Liangbi Wang

Author(s):  
Jing Fan ◽  
Liqiu Wang

The recent first-principle model shows a dual-phase-lagging heat conduction in nanofluids at the macroscale. The macroscopic heat-conduction behavior and the thermal conductivity of nanofluids are determined by their molecular physics and microscale physics. We examine numerically effects of particle-fluid thermal conductivity ratio, particle volume fraction, shape, aggregation, and size distribution on macroscale thermal properties for nine types of nanofluids, without considering the interfacial thermal resistance and dynamic processes on particle-fluid interfaces and particle-particle contacting surfaces. The particle radius of gyration and non-dimensional particle-fluid interfacial area in the unit cell are two very important parameters in characterizing the effect of particles’ geometrical structures on thermal conductivity of nanofluids. Nanofluids containing cross-particle networks have conductivity which practically reaches the Hashin-Shtrikman bounds. Moreover, particle aggregation influences the effective thermal conductivity only when the distance between particles is less than the particle dimension. Uniformly-sized particles are desirable for the conductivity enhancement, although to a limited extent.


2016 ◽  
Vol 846 ◽  
pp. 500-505
Author(s):  
Wei Jing Dai ◽  
Yi Xiang Gan ◽  
Dorian Hanaor

Effective thermal conductivity is an important property of granular materials in engineering applications and industrial processes, including the blending and mixing of powders, sintering of ceramics and refractory metals, and electrochemical interactions in fuel cells and Li-ion batteries. The thermo-mechanical properties of granular materials with macroscopic particle sizes (above 1 mm) have been investigated experimentally and theoretically, but knowledge remains limited for materials consisting of micro/nanosized grains. In this work we study the effective thermal conductivity of micro/nanopowders under varying conditions of mechanical stress and gas pressure via the discrete thermal resistance method. In this proposed method, a unit cell of contact structure is regarded as one thermal resistor. Thermal transport between two contacting particles and through the gas phase (including conduction in the gas phase and heat transfer of solid-gas interfaces) are the main mechanisms. Due to the small size of particles, the gas phase is limited to a small volume and a simplified gas heat transfer model is applied considering the Knudsen number. During loading, changes in the gas volume and the contact area between particles are simulated by the finite element method. The thermal resistance of one contact unit is calculated through the combination of the heat transfer mechanisms. A simplified relationship between effective thermal conductivity and loading pressure can be obtained by integrating the contact units of the compacted powders.


Author(s):  
C. Channy Wong

Different types of fillers with high electrical and thermal conductivities, e.g. graphite and alumina, have been added to adhesive polymers to create composite materials with improved mechanical and electrical properties. Previous modeling efforts have found that it is relatively difficult to predict the effective thermal conductivity of a composite polymeric material when incorporated with large volume content of fillers. We have performed comprehensive computational analysis that models the thermal contacts between fillers. This unique setup can capture the critical heat conduction path to obtain the effective thermal conductivity of the composite materials. Results of these predictions and its comparison with experimental data will be presented in this paper.


Author(s):  
Peixin Ye ◽  
Dinggen Li ◽  
Zihao Yu ◽  
Haifeng Zhang

In this paper, a modified lattice Boltzmann model that incorporates the effect of heat capacity is adopted to study the effects of a centered conducting body on natural convection of non-Newtonian fluid in a square cavity with time-periodic temperature distribution. The effects of power-law index, Rayleigh number, heat capacity ratio, thermal conductivity ratio, body size, temperature pulsating period and the temperature pulsating amplitude on fluid flow and heat transfer are analyzed in detail. The results showed that the increase of Rayleigh number and thermal conductivity ratio as well as the decrease of power-law index can strengthen both transient and global heat transfer, while the increase of heat capacitance of fluid to the solid wall can only enhance the transient heat transfer, and has little effect on the overall heat transfer. Further, the increase of body size will reduce both the transient heat transfer ratio and the overall heat transfer ratio. In addition, the decrease of temperature pulsating period can enhance the transient heat transfer, but it will slightly weaken the overall heat transfer. Finally, the results show that both the transient and the overall heat transfer ratio are increased with the increase of temperature pulsating amplitude.


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