Effect of Interfacial Thermal Resistance on Effective Thermal Conductivity of MoSi2/SiC Composites

The thermal conductivity of molybdenum disilicide composites reinforced with 100 nm and 0.5 (mu)m silicon carbide particles was determined as the function of volume fraction of silicon carbide. Due to interface effect, the thermal conductivity of composites with same volume fraction of silicon carbide decreased with decreasing inclusion size. It has been found that at lower inclusion content, interfacial thermal resistance dominates in determining composite thermal conductivity, while with increasing content of dispersions, percolative thermal transport paths diminishes the effect of interfacial thermal resistance.