THERMAL-CONDUCTIVITY OF TEXTILE COMPOSITES WITH ARBITRARY PREFORM STRUCTURES

In this paper, a model is constructed to predict the thermal conductiv ity of textile composite materials under steady state heat transfer co nditions. First, the composite under consideration is geometrically ch aracterized to identify relative volume fraction and spatial orientati on of each yam along its path. This is followed by applying finite ele ment analysis (FEA) and virtual work to a ''unit cell'' of the textile composite. Hybrid hexahedra brick elements with fibers and matrix aro und each integration point are employed in the finite element formulat ion by means of micro-level homogenization. Thermal conductivity predi ctions using this approach are found to agree with experimental result s for polymer and ceramic composites. The same approach can be used to solve other field problems including electrical conductivity, electro statics, and moisture diffusion.