A General Expression for the Stagnant Thermal Conductivity of Stochastic and Periodic Structures

A general expression has been obtained to estimate thermal conductivities of both stochastic and periodic structures with high-solid thermal conductivity. An air layer partially occupied by slanted circular rods of high-thermal conductivity was considered to derive the general expression. The thermal conductivity based on this general expression was compared against that obtained from detailed three-dimensional numerical calculations. A good agreement between two sets of results substantiates the validity of the general expression for evaluating the stagnant thermal conductivity of the periodic structures. Subsequently, this expression was averaged over a hemispherical solid angle to estimate the stagnant thermal conductivity for stochastic structures such as a metal foam. The resulting expression was found identical to the one obtained by Hsu et al., Krishnan et al., and Yang and Nakayama. Thus, the general expression can be used for both stochastic and periodic structures.