Heat Transfer of Various Pore-Structure Polylactic Acid Plastic Through Fire Dynamic Simulation

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biodegradable polymer served as thermal management material, and the heat transfer performance is closely related to its pore structure theoretically, but it is unclear how the structure affects its heat transfer. Therefore, a novel approach is proposed to address this issue by numerical simulations at low complexity and cost; three series of porous PLA are investigated with various structures in pore shape, size, and interval by fire dynamic simulation (FDS) and theoretical modeling, respectively. Meanwhile, the relationship between the hole structure and heat release rate (HRR) is developed by defining a new characteristic shape factor (Sc). It demonstrates that adjusting the pore structure of PLA significantly alters its heat transfer, evidenced by significant variations in HRR and smoke density. Additively, the approach for evaluating heat transfer is elucidated, encompassing the hole closure, vortex heat dissipation effect, and narrow variable speed effect. It provides some theoretical basis for designing porous thermal management materials.