Optimum porosity of fibrous porous materials for thermal insulation

N. Du, Jintu Fan, H. Wu

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

45 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The porosity of fibrous porous materials is an important factor to the thermal insulating performance of the material. This paper considers both the optimum porosity of uniform fibrous battings and the optimum distribution of the porosity of non-uniform fibrous battings for thermal insulation. The former was determined by an approximate analytical solution and a numerical simulation by using finite volume method, and the latter was studied by applying simulated annealing method. The study showed that the optimum porosity of uniform fibrous porous materials is very much dependent on fiber emissivity, and fiber radius, but little influenced by the temperature difference of the boundaries. For non-uniform fibrous materials, there can be an optimum distribution of porosity, which can be predicted by applying the simulated annealing method.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)27-33
Number of pages7
JournalFibers and Polymers
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2008

Keywords

  • Fibrous porous material
  • Finite volume
  • Optimum porosity
  • Simulated annealing
  • Thermal insulation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Polymers and Plastics

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Optimum porosity of fibrous porous materials for thermal insulation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this