English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Free Plan

The simultaneous need for high specific mechanical properties and thermal energy storage (TES) function, present in several applications (e.g., electric vehicles), can be effectively addressed by multifunctional polymer-matrix composites containing a reinforcing agent and a phase change material (PCM). The PCMs generally decrease the mechanical properties of the host structural composites, but a multifunctional composite can still be beneficial in terms of mass saving, compared to two monofunctional units performing the structural and heat management functions individually. To quantify any possible advantages, this paper proposes an approach that determines the conditions for an effective mass saving at the system level and ranks the investigated structural TES composites with a parameter called multifunctional efficiency. It is found that the potential mass saving is higher when the volume fraction of the reinforcement is kept constant also when the PCM fraction increases or when the single phases (reinforcement, PCM) are themselves multifunctional.

Evaluating the Multifunctional Performance of Structural Composites for Thermal Energy Storage