Thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube array laminated composite materials

摘要

Thermal transport of laminated composite materials in their through-the-thickness direction is known to be significantly lower than in the in-plane laminate directions. This article presents the results of a study on the thermal conductivity of a nanoreinforced laminated composite (NRLC) comprising a carbon nanotube (CNT) array polymeric nanocomposite layer that is interspersed between the interfaces of the composite laminae. This NRLC is known to exhibit higher interlaminar shear properties than laminated composite materials without the array. The in-plane and through-the-thickness thermal conductivities of the NRLC and the corresponding laminated composite without the array were measured and compared to determine the effect of the array. In addition, a unit cell model was used to determine the thermal conductivity of the nanocomposite layer. It was observed that the array increases the thermal conductivity in the in-plane directions and does not significantly affect it in the through-the-thickness direction of the laminated composite.