Modeling of elastic and thermophysical properties of MMC heat sinks with given orientation distribution of the fibers

The analytical, micro-mechanics based Mori-Tanaka approach in a multi-phase formulation is used to investigate the effective properties of heterogeneous materials. The thermal conductivity as well as the thermal expansion and the elastic behavior of metal matrix composites are predicted. To obtain material properties suitable for heat sink applications a two-dimensional random fiber orientation distribution is considered. A short review of the method is given and, as an example, a metal matrix composites with short carbon fibers embedded in a copper matrix is presented. The results obtained by the Mori-Tanaka method are discussed and an overview of possible applications of the approach is given.