Thermal and Structural Analysis of Disc Brake Rotors

Seminar project report on the topic thermal and structural analysis of vented and normal disc brake rotors. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the thermomechanical behavior of the dry contact between the brake disc and pads during the braking phase. Download PDF.

The modeling of transient temperature in the disc brake is actually used to identify the factor of the geometric design of the disc to install the ventilation system in vehicles. The thermal-structural analysis is then used with coupling to determine the deformation established and the Von Mises stress in the disc, the contact pressure distribution in pads. The results are satisfactory compared to those of the specialized literature.

Abstract

The safety aspect of automotive engineering has been considered as a number one priority in the development of the new vehicle. Every single system has been studied and developed to meet safety requirements. Instead of having an airbag, good suspension systems, good handling, and safe cornering, there is one most critical system in the vehicle which is brake systems. Without the brake system in the vehicle will put a passenger in an unsafe position. Therefore, it is a must for all vehicles to have a proper brake system. Due to the critical system in the vehicle, many researchers have conducted a study on the brake system and its entire component. In this project, the author has conducted a study on a ventilated and normal disc brake rotor of a normal passenger vehicle with a full load of capacity. The study is more likely concerned about heat and temperature distribution on the disc brake rotor. 

The steady-state and transient response has been conducted through the heat transfer analysis were to predict the worst-case scenario and temperature behaviors of the disc brake rotor. In this study, a finite element analysis approach has been conducted to identify the temperature distributions and behaviors of the disc brake rotor in steady-state and transient responses. ANSYS has been used as finite element software to perform the thermal analysis on both responses. Both results have been compared for better justification. Thus, both results provide a better understanding of the thermal characteristic of the disc brake rotor and assist the automotive industry in developing optimum and effective disc brake rotors.  

In this article, we have presented the analysis of the thermomechanical behavior of the dry contact between the disc and pads during the braking process; the modeling is based on the ANSYS 11.0. We have shown that the ventilation system plays an important role in cooling the discs and provides good high-temperature resistance. The analysis results showed that the temperature field and stress field in the process of the braking phase was fully coupled. The temperature, the Von Mises stress, and the total deformations of the disc and contact pressures of the pads increases as the thermal stresses are apart from the mechanical stress which causes the crack propagation and fracture of the bowl and wear of the disc and pads. 

Regarding the calculation results, we can say that they are satisfactorily in agreement with those commonly found in the literature investigations. It would be interesting to solve the problem in thermomechanical disc brakes with an experimental study to validate the numerical results, for example, on test benches, to demonstrate a good agreement between the model and reality. Regarding the outlook, there are three recommendations for the expansion of future work related to disc brake that can be done to better understand the effects of thermomechanical contact between the disc and pads. the recommendations are as follows: the Experimental study to verify the accuracy of the numerical model developed. Tribological and vibratory study of the contact disc – pads; Study of dry contact sliding under the macroscopic aspect (macroscopic state of the surfaces of the disc and pads).

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