Rudimentary finite element thermal modeling of platelet-filled polymer-ceramic composites

In order to improve the thermal performance of polymeric materials, they can be filled with intrinsically high thermal conductivity fillers that provide heat-conducting paths through the resulting composite. The thermal performance of polymers loaded with platelet-shaped fillers was modeled using finite element analysis in order to provide a prediction of thermal conductivity as a function of variables such as filler thermal conductivity, orientation, and polymer matrix thermal conductivity. Modeling results were compared to experimental data. An unexpectedly strong effect that the matrix conductivity has on the conductivity of the polymer-ceramic composite was predicted by modeling and confirmed experimentally.