Thermal conductivity of glass fiber reinforced polypropylene under high pressure

The thermal conductivities of molten polypropylene and its glass fiber composites were measured by the compensating hot wire method. The testing apparatus empolyed was designed and tested in our laboratory. The measurements were carried out with temperatures ranging from 170 to 230°C and pressures from 1 to 2000 kg/cm2. The results show that the thermal conductivity increases with increasing pressure and glass fiber content, but is almost independent of temperature. The thermal conductivity data were fitted satisfactorily with a proposed empirical equation for polypropylene and Lewies-Nielsen equation for the composites, respectively.