Measurement and modelling of the thermal conductivity of dispersed aluminium composites

Measurements of the thermal conductivity of a model system (squat aluminium cylinders suspended in an aqueous carbohydrate polymer gel) have been performed for a range of compositions up to the packing factor limit of the aluminium (approximately 0.6). Of a variety of models considered, the Cheng-Vachon model provided the most accurate predictions of thermal conductivity, and it was argued that this would also be the case for suspensions of most metals in polymer matrices. A modified form of the Cheng-Vachon model was used to obtain an even closer fit to the experimental data. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.