Numerical simulation of thermal conductivity of graphite flake/Cu composites with interfacial characteristics

Abstract

Graphite flake (GF)/Cu composites have received much attention as a promising thermal management material. This work provides a homogenization method to examine the effect of interfacial characteristics on the thermal conductivity of GFs/Cu composite. The finite element homogenization method is used to establish models of representative volume elements of material microstructure and interfacial layers, respectively, considering the distribution morphology and thermophysical properties of interface compositions. The interfacial layers are considered equivalent heat conduction materials, including interface compositions, pores, and Kapitza thermal resistances between compositions. The results of the thermal conductivity obtained by the approach were compared with the experimental results in the literature, and it shows good agreement. The results have indicated that the thermal conductivity of GFs/Cu composites is strongly affected by graphite sizes, graphite volume contents, interface contents, pore shapes, the relative density of interfacial layers, and whether the interface component is continuous has a significant influence.