Investigation on the thermal conductivity of 3-dimensional and 4-directidnal braided composites

It is vital to choose a factual and reasonable micro-structural model of braided composites for improving the calculating precision of thermal property of 3-D braided composites by finite element method (FEM). On the basis of new microstructure model of braided composites proposed recently, the model of FEM calculation for thermal conductivity of 3-dimennsional and 4-directional braided composites is set up in this paper. The curves of coefficient of effective thermal conductivity versus fiber volume ratio and interior braiding angle are obtained. Furthermore, comparing the results of FEM with the available experimental data, the reasonability and veracity of calculation are confirmed at the same time.