Orthotropic Thermal Conductivity of Plain-Weave Fabric Composites Using a Homogenization Technique

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Abstract
This article presents a new application of two-scale asymptotic homogeni zation schemes to predict the orthotropic thermal conductivity of plain-weave fabric rein forced composite laminates. A unit-cell, enclosing the characteristic periodic repeat pat tern in the fabric weave, is isolated and modeled. A new three-dimensional series-parallel thermal resistance network is developed to solve a steady-state heat transfer boundary value problem (BVP) for this unit-cell. Laminate effective orthotropic thermal conduc tivities are obtained analytically and numerically as functions of (1) thermal conductivity of the constituent materials, (2) fiber volume fraction, and (3) weave style. The analyti cally predicted thermal conductivity values are compared with numerical finite element predictions, with existing models in the literature and with experimentally obtained values.