An analytical solution for transverse thermal conductivities of unidirectional fibre composites with thermal barrier

In this paper, an analytical expression for transverse thermal conductivities of unidirectional fibre composites with thermal barrier is derived based on the electrical analogy technique and on the cylindrical filament-square packing array unit cell model (C-S model). The present analytical expressions both with and without thermal barrier between fibre and matrix are presented. The present theoretical predictions without thermal barrier are found to be in excellent agreement with the existing analytical model and nomogram from the finite difference method (FDM), and in good agreement with existing experimental data. Furthermore, the present analytical predictions with thermal barrier can best fit the experimental data and can provide a higher accuracy than the finite element method (FEM). The validity of the present analytical solution is thus verified for transverse thermal conductivities of unidirectional fibre composites with thermal barrier.