Prediction of the Effective Thermal Conductivity of Graphitic Foam Using a Fractal Model

Graphitic foams prepared by thermal treating of mesophase pitch under certain temperature and pressure have good thermal conduction after being graphitized. Fractal theory has been applied to study the heat transfer phenomena in porous media and was used here to calculate the thermal conductivity of the graphitic foams. A thermal conductivity model of graphitic foam is proposed by deducing the area fractal dimension of graphitic foam and by using thermal resistance method. The effective thermal conductivity of graphitic foam is computed. The predicted value by fractal model is well consistent with that of the actually observed for graphitic foam.