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Developments in Ceramic Materials Research

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In: <strong>Developments</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Ceramic</strong> <strong>Materials</strong> <strong>Research</strong> ISBN 978-1-60021-770-8<br />

Editor: Dena Rosslere, pp. 173-209 © 2007 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.<br />

Chapter 6<br />

MODELING OF THERMAL TRANSPORT IN<br />

CERAMICS MATRIX COMPOSITES<br />

M. A. Sheik ∗<br />

School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Eng<strong>in</strong>eer<strong>in</strong>g<br />

The University of Manchester<br />

P O Box 88, Sackville Street Build<strong>in</strong>g<br />

Manchester M60 1QD, United K<strong>in</strong>gdom<br />

ABSTRACT<br />

Modell<strong>in</strong>g and analysis of a unique geometrically representative Unit Cell has been<br />

shown here as the key to predict<strong>in</strong>g the macro thermal transport behaviour of composites,<br />

which otherwise requires the employment of a vast experimental <strong>in</strong>frastructure.<br />

Sophisticated materials, such as woven <strong>Ceramic</strong> Matrix Composites (CMCs), have very<br />

complex and expensive manufactur<strong>in</strong>g routes, used by just a few research organizations.<br />

This broadens the scope of a modell<strong>in</strong>g strategy to be adopted for the characterization of<br />

all possible material designs with various possible constituent volume fractions by us<strong>in</strong>g<br />

a commercial FE code such as ABAQUS. The variation of material constituents can be<br />

<strong>in</strong>corporated <strong>in</strong> the Unit Cell model geometry with subtle manipulation of key parameters<br />

dictated by quantitative SEM morphological data. Two CMC material systems have been<br />

modeled <strong>in</strong> the present study. The first material has been analysed with a focus on the<br />

homogenization of microscopic constituent material properties <strong>in</strong>to the macroscopic<br />

thermal transport character. The actual set of property data used for the Unit Cell of this<br />

material is obta<strong>in</strong>ed from the cumulative property degradation results extracted from the<br />

analyses of three sub-models based on the material’s unique porosity data. After<br />

validat<strong>in</strong>g the model<strong>in</strong>g methodology through a comparison with the experimental data, a<br />

geometrically more challeng<strong>in</strong>g CMC is modelled with a detailed <strong>in</strong>corporation of its<br />

morphological complexity <strong>in</strong> order to predict its macroscopic thermal transport behavior.<br />

F<strong>in</strong>ally, it is shown how these models can be more efficiently analysed <strong>in</strong> a multiprocess<strong>in</strong>g<br />

parallel environment.<br />

∗ Tel: +44 (0) 161 306 3802; Fax: +44 (0) 161 306 3803; E-mail: m.sheikh@manchester.ac.uk

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