A computational study of the thermoelectric power of 2D two phase materials

Abstract

In this paper, we report some numerical analysis results obtained in the study of the thermoelectric power (TEP) of 2D two phase materials. Based on the numerical resolution of transport equations, we compute the TEP of different composite structures. These were numerically simulated using a grain growth model. We show that the ratio of the electrical conductivity of the two phases is the relevant parameter for metallic material which is verified by the Wiedeman–Franz law. We observe that for a low ratio, the TEP of the composite follows a simple rule of mixture, whereas for a higher value, a S-shaped curve is obtained. Applied to the case of atoms precipitation in a metallic matrix, we show that for a low fraction of precipitates, their effect can be neglected when compared with the variation induced by the atoms precipitation. We found that an induced anisotropy in the shape of the grains leads to a strong deviation from the rule of mixture.