Thermal conductivity of cement kiln dust filled epoxy composites

Abstract

The present thesis deals with the estimation of thermal conductivity of epoxy composites embedded with Cement Kiln Dust (CKD) micro-fillers. Here Guarded heat flow meter test method is used to measure the thermal conductivity of CKD powder filled epoxy composites using an instrument UnithermTM Model 2022 in accordance with ASTM-E1530. In the numerical study, the finite-element package ANSYS is used to calculate the conductivity of the composites. Three-dimensional spheres-in-cube lattice array models are used to simulate the microstructure of composite materials for various filler concentrations. This study reveals that the incorporation of Cement Kiln Dust (CKD) particulates results in enhancement of thermal conductivity of epoxy resin and thereby improves its heat transfer capability. The experimentally measured conductivity values are compared with the numerically calculated ones and with values which are obtained from various theoretical models. It is found that the values obtained for various composite models using finite element method (FEM) are in reasonable agreement with the experimental values and with theoretical models. These composites with CKD content ranging from 0 to 25 volume percentage (%) have been prepared and the thermal conductivities of the samples are measured experimentally.