Predicting the thermal conductivity and temperature distribution in 3D braided composites

This paper presents a modified finite element model (FEM) to investigate the thermal conductivity and temperature distribution of three-dimensional (3D) braided composites. The effective coefficients of thermal conductivity (CTC) of the 3D braided composites are predicted. The effects of the braiding angle and fiber volume fraction on the effective CTC are evaluated. The results are compared with the experimental data available in the literature to demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of the present method. The temperature distributions of the representative volume element (RVE) are also outlined under different temperature boundary conditions, which provide a basis for the analysis of the coupling problem of thermo-mechanics.