Measurement and prediction of thermal conductivity for hemp fiber reinforced composites

The thermal conductivity of hemp fiber reinforced polymer composites were studied from the steady state temperature drop across samples exposed to a known heat flux. The transverse and in‐plane thermal conductivities for oriented and randomly oriented composites for different volume fractions of fiber were investigated. Experimental results showed that the orientation of fibers has a significant effect on the thermal conductivity of composites. To validate the experimental results, the heating tests for the thermal conductivity measurements were simulated by a finite element model using the thermal conductivity values obtained from the experiments. Predicted temperatures show close agreement with measured temperatures. Moreover, the experimental results of thermal conductivities of composites at different directions were compared with two theoretical models and illustrated good agreement between the obtained results and models. POLYM. ENG. SCI. 47:977–983, 2007. © 2007 Society of Plastics Engineers