Thermal conduction and diffusion through glass-banana fiber polyester composites

The analysis of variation in thermal conductivity and the m1 al diffusivity of Banana fiber reinforced polyester composites caused by the addition .of g lass fiber have been presented in thi s paper. The composite shows an in crease in therm a l conductivity in compari son to matrix . However, th e thermal conductivity of the composites with increased percentage of g lass fibe r, decreases in comparison to composite of pure banana fiber. It is minimum when g lass fiber fraction is II % in the compos ite. The decrease in thermal conducti vit y values with in creasing percentage of g lass fib er from 3% to II % in the composite is due to fiber/ matri x de- bonding, fib er pull o ut and matrix fracture. Increase in thermal conductivity at 15 % of glass fib er can be attributed to a c hange in the energy dissipation mechanism. Y. Agari model is used to evaluate the th ermal conductiviti es of the fib ers in the hybrid composite .