In this paper, the governing heat equations for the disk and the pad are extracted in the form of transient heat equations with heat generation that is dependant to time and space. In the derivation of the heat equations, parameters such as the duration of braking, vehicle velocity, geometries and the dimensions of the brake components, materials of the disk brake rotor and the pad and contact pressure distribution have been taken into account. The problem is solved analytically using Green’s function approach. It is concluded that the heat generated due to friction between the disk and the pad should be ideally dissipated to the environment to avoid decreasing the friction coefficient between the disk and the pad and to avoid the temperature rise of various brake components and brake fluid vaporization due to excessive heating.

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Analysis of heat conduction in a disk brake system

This paper develops a three-dimensional (3D) thermal-structure coupling model, implements transient stress analysis of thermoelastic contact of disk brakes with a frictional heat variation and identifies the source of the thermal fatigue. This thermostructure model allows the analysis of the effects of the moving heat source (the pad) with a variable speed and integrates the heat flux coupling between the sliding surfaces. To obtain the transient stress/temperature fields of the brake under an emergency braking, the thermoelastic problem under this 3D model is solved by the finite element method. The numerical results from the analysis and simulation show the temperature/stress of the disk presenting periodic sharp fluctuation due to the continuous cyclic loading; its varying frequency corresponds to the rotated cycle times of the braking disk. The results demonstrate that the maximum surface equivalent stress may exceed the material yield strength during an emergency braking, which may cause a plastic damage accumulation in a brake disk, while a residual tensile hoop stress is incurred on cooling. These results are validated by experimental observation results available in the literature. Based on these numerical results, some suggestions for avoiding fatigue fracture propagation are further presented.

A.K. Law

Papers

Thermal cracking in disc brakes