A random microstructure cell model was developed to predict the effective thermal conductivity of plain braided C/SiC composites material

so as to describe the real distribution of fibers and the braiding-structure. Then

the influence mechanism of microstructures on macroscopic effective thermal conductivity was discussed. The random distribution of fibers was simulated by Monte Carlo method

and the effective thermal conductivity was calculated based on finite element method

and the results were presented in statistical forms. It was shown that

the Gaussian distribution function described the distribution of effective thermal conductivity accurately. For a random fiber distribution

fibers segregated in a microscopic level; Portions of the fibers came into contact and formed some local “heat flow obstacles”

which led to a smaller effective thermal conductivity than that of the general cell model.