Thermo physical properties of elephant grass fiber-reinforced polyester composites

The objective of this study is to examine the variation in thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity and thermal diffusivity of composites with respect to fiber content and temperature. The fiber content in the composites was varied from 0.172 to 0.362 by volume. The results revealed that the thermal conductivity of composite decreased with increase in fiber content and the quite opposite trend was observed with respect to temperature. Moreover, the experimental results of thermal conductivity at different volume fractions were compared with theoretical model. The specific heat capacity of the composite with respect to temperature showed similar trend as that of the thermal conductivity. It was observed that the thermal diffusivity of composite was influenced by the fiber content, and the variation of thermal diffusivity with temperature was just opposite to that of thermal conductivity. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.