Predictions of transverse thermal conductivities for plain weave ceramic matrix composites under in-plane loading

A coupled temperature-displacement steady-state analysis of plain weave ceramic matrix composites along through-thickness direction was reported in this paper. Based on the formulation of Binary Model, a meso-scale 2 × 2 unit cell model of plain weave composites was established. The periodic displacement boundary conditions and through-thickness temperature gradient were imposed. The non-linear strain-dependent thermal properties of constituent materials have been discretised by multi-linear curves, which have been implemented by the user defined subroutine, USDFLD of the finite element package, Abaqus. The degradation of the composite through-thickness thermal conductivity with uni-axial straining has been predicted. The predictions considering tow waviness have a good agreement with experimental results. The analysis indicates that the degradation of through-thickness thermal conductivities is due to the combination of shear failure and wake debonding mechanisms. The matrix/medium played an important role in the through-thickness heat flow of plain weave ceramic matrix composites.