Role of Interfacial Gaseous Heat Transfer in the Transverse Thermal Conductivity of a Uniaxial Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Aluminoborosilicate Glass

The transverse thermal conductivity of an aluminoborosilicate glass uniaxially reinforced with carbon fibers was found to be lower under near‐vacuum than in nitrogen, whereas no such difference was found for the longitudinal thermal conductivity. This effect was attributed to the existence of an interfacial gap resulting from the thermal expansion mismatch between the matrix and fibers. The presence of this gap permits the gaseous environment access to the fiber‐matrix interface and thereby contributes to the interfacial heat transfer. Its presence does not affect the longitudinal thermal conductivity, however, because the gap is aligned parallel to the fibers and, therefore, the direction of heat flow. Analysis of the experimental data indicates that, in nitrogen at atmospheric pressure, the gaseous conductance constitutes about one‐third of the total interfacial conductance.