Numerical simulation on composite properties

• Main Author: Lee, Yan Xian.
• Other Authors: Fan Hui
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Materials::Composite materials
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/14737
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Composites, which consist of two or more separate materials combined in a structural unit, are made from various combinations of different materials. The composite properties are governed by the characteristics of the local materials and their micro-structures. . Since composite is the most important material in structural field, there is a strong desire for new composite materials to be developed with improved properties to obtain longer span lengths and longer lifetimes. The aim of this project is to conduct a numerical simulation on a 2-phase rectangular-bar micro composite at various volumetric percentage combinations of materials with an aid of a finite element software program, Ansys9.0. The thermal properties of the modeled rectangular bar and results of the simulations are then interpreted and discussed. The first part of the project is to perform the thermal analysis on the same composite bar. Initial and boundary conditions are set and steady state time and thermal conductivity of the bar are calculated from the experiment. The second part of the project is to perform the thermal analysis on the air-aluminum composite bar using the same initial and boundary conditions. The findings of the experimental data are then compared with the theoretical values using theories such as Rules of Mixtures (RoM), Hatta and Taya (H&T) Model and Hesselman and Johnson (H&J) Model.