Estimation of Effective Thermal Conductivity of Two-Phase Materials by Considering the Knudsen Effect: An Analytical Approach

In this article, the analytic model has been developed to estimate the effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of two-phase materials based on the unit cell approach by considering the concentration, conductivity ratio, contact resistance, and Knudsen effect. The derivations of algebraic equations for standard geometry, such as hexagon and octagon cylinder models are developed based on parallel isotherm approach. The developed analytic model has been used to predict the thermal conductivity of various two-phase materials (conductivity ratio, α = 3.11-310.86 and concentration, ν = 0.05 and 0.74). The present models are validated using the standard models and compared with the experimental data. Further the comparison is made between the present models and existing models. The results are in good agreement.