Thermal conductivity of three-component composites of core-shell particles

New models are developed for the relative thermal conductivity of concentrated three-component composites of core-shell particles. According to the proposed models, the relative thermal conductivity of a particulate composite, defined as composite conductivity divided by matrix conductivity, is a function of five variables, namely, ratio of shell-to-core radii, ratio of shell-to-matrix thermal conductivities, ratio of core-to-shell thermal conductivities, volume fraction of core-shell particles, and maximum packing volume fraction of particles. The predictions of the models are discussed and compared with available experimental data on thermal conductivity of particulate composites.