Analysis of equivalent heat transfer performance of graphene /PLA absorbing composites

Abstract

Based on the theory of micromechanics, the thermal conductivity of poly（lactic acid）（PLA）composites filled with graphene（GR）sheets was studied by representative volume element method. According to the micrographs, the microstructure characteristics of the composite were analyzed, and a two-dimensional random model was established. The equivalent thermal conductivity of GR composite was calculated by finite element method, and the accuracy of the model was verified by experimental results. The influences of the microstructure parameters to the thermal conductivity of the composite were studied by parametric analysis, and its heat transfer mechanism was analyzed. The results show that the numerical results of the random model are in good agreement with the experimental results. With the increase of graphene mass fraction, the heat transfer performance of the composite is enhanced. The aspect ratio and orientation of graphene in the composites have great influence on the overall thermal conductivity of the GR composite. At the same time, the interfacial contact thermal resistance between graphene and matrix also has great influence on the overall thermal conductivity of the composites. The present model and the parametric analysis results can provide reference for optimal design of the absorbing materials.

Keywords

• graphene
• pla
• random model
• thermal conductivity
• numerical simulation