Evaluation of effective thermal conductivity for carbon nanotube/polymer composites using control volume finite element method

Effective thermal conductivity of the polymeric composites filled with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) is predicted by using the asymptotic expansion homogenization technique (AEH), which makes it possible to localize and homogenize a heterogeneous medium. In the present study, CNT embedded epoxy composites are taken into account as the heterogeneous system. The representative volume element (RVE) employed in the homogenization process is constructed by assuming that the CNTs are dispersed homogeneously in the polymer matrix. It is presumed that the RVE contains a single CNT and that there is no direct interaction between neighboring CNTs. The dispersion state of CNTs in the composites is morphologically characterized by the field emission scanning electronic microscope (FESEM). In order to consider the orientation state of CNTs, the bounding approach is adopted by using the orientation tensor. It is found that the numerically homogenized thermal conductivity is higher than that obtained by the analytic model. Predicted conductivities are also compared with experimental results as well as analytic results. The homogenization technique yields the effective thermal conductivity accordant with experimental results. In the case that a heterogeneous material has anisotropic properties or geometrical complexity, the homogenization technique is an efficient method to obtain averaged material properties equivalent to those of the real heterogeneous medium.