Effective Thermal Conductivity of Three-Component Composites Containing Spherical Capsules
Abstract
This paper presents detailed numerical simulations predicting the effective thermal conductivity of spherical monodisperse and polydisperse core-shell particles ordered or randomly distributed in a continuous matrix. First, the effective thermal conductivity of this three-component composite material was found to be independent of the capsule spatial distribution and size distribution. In fact, the study established that the effective thermal conductivity depended only on the core and shell volume fractions and on the core, shell, and matrix thermal conductivities. Second, the effective medium approximation reported by Felske (2004) [21] was in very good agreement with numerical predictions for any arbitrary combination of the above-mentioned parameters. These results can be used to design energy efficient composites, such as microencapsulated phase change materials in concrete and/or insulation materials for energy efficient buildings.
Recommended Citation
A. M. Thiele et al., "Effective Thermal Conductivity of Three-Component Composites Containing Spherical Capsules," International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 73, pp. 177 - 185, Elsevier Ltd, Jun 2014.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2014.02.002
Department(s)
Materials Science and Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Composite materials; Composite spheres; Effective medium approximation; Microballoons; Phase change materials; Three-phase media
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0017-9310
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jun 2014
Comments
This report was prepared as a result of work sponsored by the California Energy Commission (Contract: PIR:-12-032), the National Science Foundation (CMMI: 1130028) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).