The Thermal Conductivity of 3D Printed Plastic Insulation Materials—The Effect of Optimizing the Regular Structure of Closures

Abstract

In the interest of environmental protection, attention should be paid to improving energy efficiency, through the use of appropriate insulations. They can be used in the construction industry, for plastic window frames, and the thermal insulation of buildings. It is also possible to use these materials in the electronics industry, for hermetic casings of devices, in the aviation industry, as well as in the food industry, as collective packaging for frozen food. The technology of using additive 3D printing to create prototype insulating materials made of plastic is proposed in this article. Multi-layer materials, with quadrangle, hexagonal, and triangle closures were designed and printed. A mathematical model was developed, and then experimentally verified. Quadrangle and hexagonal structures were shown to be useful, and triangle structures to be of little use. The optimal size of closure was determined to be 10 mm, with no convection, and 6 mm, with possible convection. The lowest thermal conductivity of the insulation was 0.0591 W/(m·K) for 10 mm single-layer quadrangle and hexagonal closures with an insulation density of 180 kg/m3.