A 3D multi-scale finite element model was developed to predict the effective thermal conductivity of graphene nanoplatelet (GNP)/Al composites. The factors influencing the effective thermal conductivity of the GNP/Al composites were investigated, including the orientation, shape, aspect ratio, configuration and volume fraction of GNPs. The results show that GNPs shape has a little influence on the thermal conductivity of GNP/Al composites, and composites with elliptic GNPs have the highest thermal conductivity. In addition, with increasing the aspect ratio of GNPs, the thermal conductivity of GNP/Al composites increases and finally tends to be stable. The GNPs configuration strongly influences the thermal conductivity of GNP/Al composites, and the thermal conductivity of the composites with layered GNPs is the highest among the five configurations. The effective thermal conductivity is sensitive to volume fraction of GNPs. Ideally, when the volume fraction of layered GNPs reaches 1.54%, the thermal conductivity of GNP/Al composites is as high as 400 W/m K. The findings of this study could provide a good theoretical basis for designing high thermal conductivity GNP/Al composites.

开发了 3D 多尺度有限元模型来预测石墨烯纳米片 (GNP)/Al 复合材料的有效热导率。研究了影响 GNP/Al 复合材料有效导热系数的因素，包括 GNP 的取向、形状、纵横比、构型和体积分数。结果表明，GNPs的形状对GNP/Al复合材料的热导率影响不大，椭圆形GNPs的复合材料的热导率最高。此外，随着GNPs纵横比的增加，GNP/Al复合材料的热导率增加并最终趋于稳定。GNPs 的配置对 GNP/Al 复合材料的热导率影响很大，层状 GNPs 的复合材料的热导率是五种配置中最高的。有效热导率对 GNP 的体积分数敏感。理想情况下，当层状 GNPs 的体积分数达到 1.54% 时，GNP/Al 复合材料的热导率高达 400 W/m K。本研究结果可为设计高热导率 GNP/Al 提供良好的理论依据复合材料。