Experimental Study on Enhancing Thermal Conductivity of Cured GFRP Through Plasma

Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) is a good candidate to package and protect small-size and fragile temperature sensors (e.g. small thermocouples, optical fiber sensors, and others) due to its high strength and high corrosion resistance, especially in harsh environment, where the sensor's reliability could be compromised. However, because the glass fiber itself is a poor heat conductor, the thermal sensitivity and response time of the packaged temperature sensors is normally affected. In order to improve the thermal conductivity of glass fiber composites, a plasma-enhanced curing method is here proposed. This way the thermal conductivity of GFRP can be enhanced by adjusting the excitation voltage of plasma. The method is evaluated experimentally immersing two GFRP-packaged temperature sensors (one plasma-enhanced and another normal) into a hot-water bath. Experimental results show that the step-temperature response of the plasma-enhanced packaged sensor is faster compare to the use of a normal GFRP packaging.