Search

1.SNTRODUCTSON Composite materials are used in many fields of aerospace engineering and the investigation of their thermal performances is required during both their manufacturing and their employment [1]. In aerospace field composite materials are used to furnish a better protection from high temperatures in the critical zones of engines than the traditional materials. In fact, the high temperatures could cause irreversible damages. Therefore the thermal analysis of composite materials, employed to realise any part of engine, is very challenging. In this case, the anisotropic behavior of the thermal conductivity should be considered to optimize the use of composite materials and a great deal of studies are focused on thermophysica l measurements [2-6]. These kinds of investigation s are very difficult for both the geometry and the complexity of the equations which describe the phenomenon. The thermal distribution can be determined by means of the numerical methods [7-10]. For this reason the thermal designer develops home-made procedure to solve the specific problem. On the other hand it is possible to use commercial software. It is important to observe that, even if a home-made procedure is used, it is useful to have a reference standard given by commercial software to validate the implemented numerical code.