Highly Thermally Conductive Hybrid Carbon Fiber Polymer Composite for Radiator Application
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Abstract
Carbon fiber (CF) reinforced polymer composites have been used for aerospace structures because they have low mass, high specific strength, high specific stiffness, and low life-cycle maintenance compared to aluminum alloys. However, due to their relatively low thermal conductivity, pristine CF polymer composites fail to provide effective heat flow for certain applications such as heat exchange systems and radiators. The technology described in this paper provides novel CF polymer composites that possess high thermal conductivity by incorporating pyrolytic graphite sheets (PGS). The thermal conductivities of novel hybrid PGS/CF polymer composites were measured to be about 13 to 36 times higher than that of pristine CF polymer composite, and about two times higher than that of aluminum alloy 6061. This new material with sufficient thermal conductivity is applicable to composite radiators of heat exchange systems.
Description
Keith Gordon, NASA Langley Research Center, USA
Darwyn Ward, NASA Interns, Fellows, and Scholars (NIFS), NASA Langley Research Center, USA
Grace Belancik, NASA Ames Research Center, USA
Pranav Jagta, KBR / NASA Ames Research Center, USA
Godfrey Sauti, NASA Ames Research Center, USA
ICES104: Advances in Thermal Control Technology
The 52nd International Conference on Environmental Systems was held in Calgary, Canada, on 16 July 2023 through 20 July 2023.