Epoxy‐hemp and epoxy‐flax composites filled with glass dust for enhanced thermal insulation: An analytical and experimental study

Abstract

This article reports on an analytical and experimental investigation on the effects of fiber and filler reinforcement on the effective thermal conductivity (keff) of epoxy‐based composites. This research aims at enhancing the thermal insulation capability of fiber reinforced composites by adding an industrial waste, WGD (waste glass dust) as particulate filler. For this, an analytical model is proposed to estimate the keff values of particle filled polymer composites with and without fiber reinforcement. The results computed from the proposed correlations are then validated with some previously reported investigations. For an experimental validation, hemp and flax fiber reinforced epoxy based hybrid composites are fabricated with WGD as the fillers in varying weight fractions of 0 to 0.2. Effects of filler content on keff of fiber‐polymer systems are studied. Their keff are measured by a Unitherm Model 2022 instrument. It is found that the predicted and measured values are in good agreement. It is observed that the keff of the epoxy composites reduced from 0.359 to 0.297 W/m K with increase in the WGD weight fraction from 0 to 0.2. The keff of hybrid composites are also reduced by 27% and 15.53%, respectively, with 20 wt% addition of WGD.Highlights Hybridization of natural fiber based polymer composites. Utilization of waste glass dust as functional filler. Model development for heat conduction across hybrid composite system. Insulation capability enhancement of epoxy using fiber/filler reinforcements. Low cost thermal insulation materials using green materials and industry waste.