Two scalar parameters influence the transient thermal behavior of laminates: the density and the heat capacity (per unit of mass) . As these two parameters are scalar, their characteristics do not depend on the possible anisotropy of the material.
On the other hand, the thermal conductivity is a order tensor. Generally, for an anisotropic material, the thermal conductivity equation can be written as follows:
For an orthotropic material, the previous equations reduces to:
Then, only three material parameters define the thermal conductivity. Finally, for an isotropic material the thermal conductivity is defined by a single parameter :