Transient thermal radiation heat transfer in a reinforced plastic coating with anisotropic optical properties

Advanced fiber reinforced plastics, such as carbon fiber reinforced polymers (FRP), offer many advantages over more traditional materials such as metals. Their characteristics make them ideal for use in many sensitive applications. To maximize the use of these materials, there is a need to gain a better understanding of heat and temperature distribution in these materials under different boundary conditions. In this study transient radiative and conductive heat transfer in a FRP medium with anisotropic optical properties is investigated. The solution includes the radiative transfer equation (RTE) within the material coupled to a transient energy equation that contains both radiative and conductive terms. Two different kinds of boundary conditions are treated: when the temperatures imposed on the boundaries vary with time and when the medium is subject to a radiation source which varies with time. It is shown that radiative heat transfer has significant effect on heat transfer and temperature distribution within the layer.