Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

MS

College

Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Department

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Committee Chair

Kenneth Means.

Abstract

Thermal conductivity of a polymer composite is a function of resin type, fiber type and architecture, fiber volume fraction, direction of heat flow, and service temperature. Recognizing the thermal responses in Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composite decks play a critical role in their performance, accurate thermal measurements of FRP decks are essential.;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-the-thickness 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 flow meter method' in accordance with ASTM E 1530. The results obtained from this study are useful for the prediction of thermal conductivity of E-glass and Carbon fiber composites with vinyl ester.;Results showed that E-glass/Vinyl ester samples exhibited in-plane and through-the-thickness thermal conductivity of 0.35+/-0.05 W/m K. Thermal conductivity of Carbon/Vinyl ester composite is almost twice the conductivity in transverse and four times greater than through-the-thickness direction. Addition of 10 wt%, 12.5 wt% of graphite powder additive in neat vinyl ester resin increased the conductivity by nearly 88%, 170% respectively. The experimental values from this research correlated well with results from rule of mixtures in in-plane direction and also correlated with other theoretical methods. The results of this research would also be useful for in situ non-destructive testing of composite structures using Infrared thermography.

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