TY - JOUR
T1 - Thermal conductivity of sorghum and sorghum-thermoplastic composite panels
AU - Qi, Chusheng
AU - Yadama, Vikram
AU - Guo, Kangquan
AU - Wolcott, Michael P.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the Special Fund for Agro-scientific Research in the Public Interest of China for their financial support (Grant No. 201003063-07 ). We are grateful to Michael Hurst of ChloroFill LLC for supplying sweet sorghum.
Copyright:
Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2013/2
Y1 - 2013/2
N2 - Thermal conductivity of a material is a key parameter to simulate heat transfer during manufacturing of a composite under heat and pressure. This study investigated the thermal conductivity of composite panels hot-pressed with varying proportions of sweet sorghum and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Thermal conductivity of the composites was tested under steady-state conditions. The effects of temperature (12.5-62.5°C), density (0.7-1.0g/cm3) and HDPE (0-40%) content on thermal conductivity of the composite products were investigated. Thermal conductivity increases in a linear manner with temperature and density, and in a nonlinear manner with HDPE content. An empirical equation for describing the thermal conductivity of sweet sorghum and HDPE composite panels was fitted, and has a good agreement with testing data. Compared with other empirical equations for predicting the thermal conductivity of wood, the experimental values in this study consistently had lower values, indicting a significant difference in thermal conductivity of composites manufactured with agro-based natural fibers compared to wood fibers. Additionally, predicted thermal conductivity values are limited by those estimated by the parallel and series models for two phase composites.
AB - Thermal conductivity of a material is a key parameter to simulate heat transfer during manufacturing of a composite under heat and pressure. This study investigated the thermal conductivity of composite panels hot-pressed with varying proportions of sweet sorghum and high-density polyethylene (HDPE). Thermal conductivity of the composites was tested under steady-state conditions. The effects of temperature (12.5-62.5°C), density (0.7-1.0g/cm3) and HDPE (0-40%) content on thermal conductivity of the composite products were investigated. Thermal conductivity increases in a linear manner with temperature and density, and in a nonlinear manner with HDPE content. An empirical equation for describing the thermal conductivity of sweet sorghum and HDPE composite panels was fitted, and has a good agreement with testing data. Compared with other empirical equations for predicting the thermal conductivity of wood, the experimental values in this study consistently had lower values, indicting a significant difference in thermal conductivity of composites manufactured with agro-based natural fibers compared to wood fibers. Additionally, predicted thermal conductivity values are limited by those estimated by the parallel and series models for two phase composites.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.indcrop.2013.01.011
DO - 10.1016/j.indcrop.2013.01.011
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84873191190
VL - 45
SP - 455
EP - 460
JO - Industrial Crops and Products
JF - Industrial Crops and Products
SN - 0926-6690
ER -