On the thermal conductivity of sintered metallic fibre structures

The present paper investigates the anisotropic thermal conductivity of a novel sintered metallic fibre structure with different porosities (i.e. 51.9%, 74.9%, 81.4%). Different methodologies are applied: numerical calculations (i.e. Finite Element and Lattice Monte Carlo methods) based on micro-computed tomography images, experimental tests (i.e. steady-state plate method) and analytical modelling. Good agreement between the numerical methods and experimental measurements is obtained for high porosity models (i.e. porosity > 72.5%). Furthermore, the thermal conductivity decreases with increasing porosity. A distinct thermal anisotropy is found where maximum values are in the parallel direction and minimum values in the transverse direction to the fibres.