An Experimental Investigation on Thermal Conductivity of Epoxy/Zirconia Composites

An experimental study of the heat-transfer process within epoxy matrix composite filled with micro-sized zirconia particles are proposed in this paper. The composites are fabricated using simple hand lay-up technique for a wide range of filler content. The thermal conductivity values of all sets of fabricated composites are measured experimentally using Unitherm Model 2022. The tests are in accordance with ASTM E-1530 Standard. The result shows that the effective thermal conductivity (keff) increases with increase in the volume fraction of the zirconia in the epoxy matrix. The measured values are compared with the value obtained from numerical simulation. The simulated and experimental values are than compared with calculated effective thermal conductivity values obtained from other established correlations as well for validation. From the study, it is found that the numerical values are in good agreement with the experimental value whereas various theoretical models are far from satisfaction. This study reveals that the incorporation of zirconia particles results in enhancement of thermal conductivity of epoxy thereby increasing its heat transportation capability.