Transient Heat Conduction and Thermal Coefficient of Ceramic Coated Fabrics

Abstract

Ceramic coated fabrics have been employed for heat resistant clothing such as fire-fighters gears, fire-proof insulators, and heating and cooling insulators. Thus, transient heat conduction and thermal properties of such fabrics are needed for the design of the clothing. The goal of this study is to measure the transient heat conduction and the coefficient of thermal expansion of ceramic coated fabrics with different woven morphologies. This has been accomplished through an experimental setup consists of a hotplate assembly, applying a uniform temperature, with the accuracy of +/− 1 °C in less than 500 msec, a ceramic coated fabric and an infra-red thermometer assembly. This set up has been validated by using a known material such as aluminum and copper for the coefficient of thermal expansion measurement. The hot plate temperature was varied between 30 to 400°C within 300 seconds. The transient heat conduction and the thermal coefficient of the woven ceramic coated fabrics were compared with ceramic nonwoven fabrics materials. Finally, upon comparing different samples and measuring the coefficients of thermal expansion, K’s, the level of delay in heat transfer with respect to time has been determined.