Modeling and calculation of thermal insulation performance of aramid aerogel fibers based on fabric structural parameters.

The emerging aerogel fibers, which combine the high porosity of aerogel materials with the softness and weavability of fibers, demonstrate significant potential for the next-generation material for wearable thermal protection. However, there is currently a lack of fundamental understanding regarding their thermal insulation performance. In this work, aramid nanofibers-derived aerogel fibers (ANAFs), which exhibit high strength and excellent thermal insulation properties, are adopted as model aerogel materials for the numerical calculation of thermal conductivity. ANAFs are woven into aerogel fabrics with plain, twill, and satin structures, and their three-dimensional structural models are established based on fabric structure parameters. Building upon this foundation, a relationship model between thermal conductivity of ANAFs and thermal conductivity of aramid aerogel fabrics is proposed by series-parallel hybrid model, which is derived from thermal resistance theory. The model comprehensively considers the effects of thermal radiation and conduction. By an iterative approximation strategy, the thermal conductivity of ANAFs is calculated as 0.0345 W / mK. During the calculation process, the fabric structure plays a crucial role in determining the volume fraction of different components in the model, thereby affecting the calculation of ANAFs thermal conductivity. Furthermore, prediction models for the thermal conductivity of twill and satin weave fabrics are constructed to verify the accuracy of the calculated thermal conductivity of ANAFs. The results derived from the prediction models proposed in this work demonstrate a deviation of <5 % when compared to experimental measurements. This work provides a convenient and feasible method for calculating the thermal conductivity of aerogel fibers, while also offering a viable approach for optimizing fabric structural parameters to enhance their thermal insulation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]