Thermal conductance of multilayered metallic sheets

An experimental investigation was conducted to determine the thermal conductivity, the overall thermal conductance, and the thermal contact conductance between layers of stacked aluminum alloy 3004, 5042, and 5182 sheet. Tests were conducted for aluminum sample thicknesses of 0.0305-0.3074 cm (0.012-0.121 in.), mean junction temperatures of 79.5 and 165.5°C (175 and 330°F), and contact pressures of 0.689-10.34 MPa (100-1500 psi). The overall thermal conductance increased with increasing contact pressure and increasing temperature. It decreased as the number of aluminum layers was increased. The experimental data were used to derive thermal contact conductance between layers of stacked aluminum sheet. From these derived values, a correlation for the thermal contact conductance was developed. The resulting expressions are presented as a function of dimensionless parameters for the layer material, apparent contact pressure, and mean junction temperature.