Nano Enabled Thermo-Mechanical Materials in Adhesive Joints: A New Paradigm to Materials Functionality (Preprint)

摘要

One of the barriers in achieving adequate through-thickness thermal conductivity in composite materials and also in composite joints is the extremely low thermal conductivity of resins (polymer) or adhesives (typically 0.3 W/mK). In this paper, a material configuration aligning Multi-wall Nanotube (MWNT) in the thickness direction in adhesive joint is studied to enhance through-thickness thermal conductivity. Initial numerical study indicated that the thermal contact of the conductive phase (in this case is the MWNT) with the adherent surfaces is essential to achieve the desirable through-thickness thermal conductivity in joints. To demonstrate the concept, conductive graphite face sheets were used along with aligned MWNT aligned along the joint thickness. Aligned MWNT infused with resin (adhesive) is processed in joints with plasma etching the surfaces ensuring the ends of the MWNT make thermal contact with the adherent surfaces. The MWNT modified adhesive joint through- thickness thermal conductivity measure to be over 250 W/mK, which exceeded the thermal conductivity of adhesive by several orders of magnitude. Thus, the study demonstrates a new approach as well as opportunities of much needed thermal property tailoring in structural joints.