Experimental Determination of Thermal Properties of Chopped Fiber Composite Materials

Abstract

Thermal properties of chopped composites are important parameters for determining application and use of this category of materials. An experimental identification for thermal properties of different composite materials was conducted. In order to investigate the effect of fiber, three different chopped fibers with a phenol resin as a matrix; Carbon fiber, Basalt, and Fiberglass, were selected to determine their thermal properties. Also, the matrix is changed for carbon fiber; phenol resin and epoxy resin, to show the influence of matrix material. Two important parameters were investigated which are the thermal conductivity (TC) and the thermal expansion coefficient (CTE). For the four materials, the thermal conductivity obtained is very low with a range of K = 0.159 w/m °c for the Carbon / Phenol to K = 0.1942 w/m °c for the Carbon / Epoxy, so those materials are used as thermal insulators. On the other side, thermal expansion coefficient has also very low negative values for the Phenol based composites with a range of -146.6 µm/m°c for fiber glass / phenol to -273.7 µm/m°c for carbon fiber / phenol, and for the Epoxy based composites the CTE has a low positive value which is 1049 µm/m°c for carbon fiber / epoxy .