Improvement in thermal conductivity and mechanical properties for polyamide-6 composite including carbon fiber and alumina particle

Abstract

In this study, we will report the efficiency of hybrid filler for the mechanical properties and the thermal conductivity of Polyamide-6 (PA6) composite. One of the ways to improve the thermal conductivity of the composite is to add fillers to the matrix, but the excessive filler causes the composite to form aggregation and void. They make the mechanical properties and thermal conductivity decline. As the solution to this problem, to use of hybrid filler is expected to realize the lower filler content of composite with keeping the properties. However, the most efficient ratio of hybrid filler is unclear. In this study, PA6 and filler were composited using a twin-shaft melt-mixing machine. A manual injection molding machine was then used to produce test specimens for thermal conductivity measurement and tensile test specimens. Thermal conductivity was measured based on the laser flash method. The structure of the composite was also investigated by fracture surface observation after tensile testing. It is revealed that two types of fillers were composited with PA6 to obtain higher thermal conductivity than that of a single filler with the same filler content. This is because the different shapes of the two fillers made the thermally conductive path.