Measurement of Three-Dimensional Anisotropic Thermal Diffusivities for Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Plastics Using Lock-In Thermography

A new measurement technique to measure the in-plane thermal diffusivity, the distribution of in-plane anisotropy, and the out-of-plane thermal diffusivity has been developed to evaluate the thermal conductivity of anisotropic materials such as carbon fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRPs). The measurements were conducted by using a laser-spot-periodic-heating method. The temperature of the sample is detected by using lock-in thermography. Thermography can analyze the phase difference between the periodic heat input and the temperature response of the sample. Two kinds of samples, unidirectional (UD) and cross-ply (CP) pitch-based CFRPs, were fabricated and tested in an atmospheric condition. All carbon fibers of the UD sample run in one direction [90∘\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$90^{\circ }$$\end{document}]. The carbon fibers of the CP sample run in two directions [0∘/90∘\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$0^{\circ }/90^{\circ }$$\end{document}]. It is found that, by using lock-in thermography, it is able to visualize the thermal anisotropy and calculate the angular dependence of the in-plane thermal diffusivity of the CFRPs. The out-of-plane thermal diffusivity of CFRPs was also measured by analyzing the frequency dependence of the phase difference.