A Numerical Study on the Thermal Conductivity of 3D Woven C/C Composites at High Temperature

Experimental data for Carbon/Carbon (C/C) constituent materials are combined with a three dimensional steady state heat transfer finite element analysis to demonstrate the average in-plane and out-of-plane thermal conductivities (TCs) of C/C composites. The finite element analysis is carried out at two distinct length scales: (a) a micro scale comparable with the diameter of carbon fibres and (b) a meso scale comparable with the carbon fibre yarns. Micro-scale model calculate the TCs at the fibre yarn scale in the three orthogonal directions (x, y and z). The output results from the micro-scale model are then incorporated in the meso-scale model to obtain the global TCs of the 3D C/C composite. The simulation results are quite consistent with the theoretical and experimental counterparts reported in references. Based on the numerical approach, TCs of the 3D C/C composite are calculated from 300 to 2500 K. Particular attention is given in elucidating the variations of the TCs with temperature. The multi-scale models provide an efficient approach to predict the TCs of 3D textile materials, which is helpful for the thermodynamic property analysis and structure design of the C/C composites.