Finite Element Analysis of Disc Brake Considering Heat

Flow

Noman Bashir Muhammad Azhar Saeed

Department of Mechatronics Engineering Department of Mechatronics Engineering
National University of Sciences & Technology National University of Sciences & Technology
Peshawar Road, Rawalpindi Pakistan Peshawar Road, Rawalpindi Pakistan
nomanbashir28@gmail.com mazharsaeed166@gmail.com
Abstract—This research aims to provide a better performance discs are less susceptible to the "brake fade”. Disc brakes are
to the most critical part of an automotive system namely brake. now getting popular among manufacturers as it provides better
Brakes are responsible for slowing down of vehicle by dissipating stopping power and are more self-adjusting than drum brakes.
the kinetic energy. When the brake system is brought into action The basic mechanism of disk brakes goes like when the
a significant amount of heat runs and get dissipated through the
brake paddle is pressed the hydraulic fluid fills the caliper with
system. For covering all these aspects designers use number of
pressure causing the piston to move in outward direction
procedures/experiments to choose suitable material that provides
a data about temperature distribution, stresses, contact pressure,
making brake pads press on rotor that is in motion as it has also
strain distribution, deformation, shear stress and strain. We aim been attached to wheel via Hub.
to use simulations on ANSYS for the above mentioned aspects Joe Y.G. cha explained disc brake instability analysis
with different materials and predict the most preferable from because of the oscillation produced in course of braking action
these results. and how they flow causing certain stresses in system.
Thermal management contributes to a large extent to the
Keywords—ANSYS; SolidWorks; Finite Element Analysis; wear of the rotor and the absolute braking performance. Every
Disc Brakes; time the brakes are used, the friction between the brake pads
that rub against the rotor creates incredible amounts of heat.
I. INTRODUCTION If the temperature rises too high, there is a chance that a
Brakes are somewhat the most delicate and sensitive part of thin layer of brake pads will form on the surface of the rotor,
any automobile. As the technology progresses the automobile causing the brakes to fade. The braking power of the vehicle is
manufacturers are getting in a race to get faster and faster reduced once the brake is affected by high temperatures.
vehicles on roads. These advancements in line require a similar
progressive braking technology and mechanism for vehicle.
Every braking system tends to meet the following
requirements:
 The braking force should be high enough to stop
vehicle in minimum time and distance.
 Provide maximum control on vehicle during
braking action.
 The system should be made of anti-fade materials
whose friction characteristics do not drop/fade.
 Brakes should not get really heated up that may
cause system to malfunction
Currently the most efficient and most widely used braking
technology is disc brakes system. Following are components
of a Disc Braking System: Figure 1-How a Disc Brake Works (7)
 Brake pads
 Caliper
 Rotor
In 1902, Frederick William Lanchester patented the first
caliper type automobile disc brake. He used it successfully on
Lanchester cars. In comparison with earlier used drum brakes,
disc brakes provides better braking action, due to the fact that
the disc cools down at more rapid rate. As a consequence,
 Numerical solution for a variety of engineering problems
can be found by using FEM. Any complex geometry made of
any material can be handled by using this method. under
different conditions. The general finite element method
satisfies the requirement of analysis of the complex design and
design systems of today, in which the equilibrium equation
solution is normally unusable. In finite element method,
“nodes” are formed. These nodes form the design. Connected
with the nodes are finite elements that form the network of
finite elements that are related to structural and material
features of the geometry. These elements determine the
behavior of the model under certain conditions. Finite element
density which is known as mesh, is different at different points
in the material. It depends on stress level in the given area.
Areas of higher load variations generally needs higher mesh
density than with little or least load Variation.
A. Problem
The main problem with the disc brake is that when brake
is applied, a frictional force arises between disc and pads. This
frictional force causes temperature variation from 20oC to
more than 700oC within a few seconds. This paper presents a
three-dimensional Finite Element Model (FEM) of the disc
and two pads.
B. Finite Element Model
In FE Model, the first step was the preparation of a
structural model of disc and pads. ANSYS, a finite element
software, was used to perform this task. Next step was to
initialize the calculations in ANSYS. For this purpose, certain
boundary conditions were defined, and meshing was done on
finite element model. Our finite element model comprising of
two pads and a single disc is shown in the figure 7. Area of
contact of disc and pads is illustrated I n figure 8. Properties
of mesh are given the table 1. Three different materials were
selected for the disc which include Carbon-Ceramic, Grey
Cast Iron and Stainless-Steel Grade 316. Properties of each of
these materials are given in the table 2.
C. Thermal Analysis
Disc-brake system of a car separated from wheel assembly
is shown in the figure 1. When brake is applied, temperature
rises at the contact of disc and pads and heat thus produced, is
dissipated into the disc and pads. Heat that gets wasted into
the pads can be calculated correctly by estimating that
produced at disc-pad interface. Heat generated at the interface
is equal to heat dissipated into disc and pads. Because of very
high angular speed, so we can ignore temperature gradient in
theta-direction. Based on this, we can assume that heat flux is
applied on whole circumferential domain. This method, we
used, is approved by experimental investigations and widely
used in analytical studies.
material of the pads as well as disc which generates heat.
Since this generated heat is very small, so we are not taking it
into account. The friction heat flux generated in the disc-pad
interface is as follows [10].
q (x,y,t) = µP(x,y) * v(t)= µP(x,y)ɷ(t).r (1)
Where is the co-efficient of friction, v is the velocity of
sliding that depends on angular velocity ɷ and radius r of the
disc. P is the pressure of contact. Sum of the heat generated in
disc qD and that generated in the pads q P is equal to total heat
produced q. γ is the relative braking energy which is absorbed
by the disc.
γ = qD/q = qD/(qD+qP) =1/1+(ρPcPkP/ρDcDkD) (2)
Where q is the density, c is the specific heat and k is the
thermal conductivity. P and D in suffix is for pads and disc
respectively.
Figure 2 -Disc Pad Isolated from Wheel Assembly
D. Material Properties
The materials mentioned in table 2 will be used in the FEM
analysis and prediction for the best possible material.
E. Cast Iron
Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but identifies a large
group of ferrous alloys, which solidify with a eutectic. Iron
accounts for more than 95%, while the main alloying elements
are carbon and silicon. The amount of carbon in cast iron is
the range 2.1-4%, as ferrous alloys with less are denoted
carbon steel by definition. Cast irons contain appreciable
amounts of silicon, normally 1-3%, and consequently these
alloys should be considered ternary Fe-C-Si alloys. Here
graphite is present in the form of flakes. Disc brake discs are
commonly manufactured out of a material called grey cast
iron. [15]. for cast iron,
 Young’s modulus (E) = 125 GPa
 Poisson’s ratio (v) =0.25

Vehicle in motion basically, posses two kinds of energies that

is kinetic energy and potential energy. On application of
brakes, these energies are converted into thermal energies at
disc-pad interface. There is also slight wear and tear of the
 Table 1- Material Properties
Model Generations: Material Yield Tensile Elastic Shear
Strength Strength Modulus Modulus
Two different approaches can be used to generate a the N/m2 N/m2 N/m2 N/m2
geometry for subject analysis: Al Alloy 1.65 3 7e+011 3.1e+010
 Direct generation (Modeling in ANSYS [10]
 Solid modeling Stainless 290e+6 500e+6 205e+9 152e+9
We first designed the model in Solidworks and saved it with Steel
.IGS extension and later imported the geometry in ANSYS Grade
F. Mesh Model 316
The model is first made in SolidWorks ® and then a mesh [9]
network was generated in ANSYS 18.1 Workbench The finite Grey 98e+6 250e+6 105e+9 69e+9
element model of the rotor is carried out with a mesh of 20351 Cast
elements for a total of 39208 nodes, where the mesh of the Iron
disc and pad resulting from ANSYS software is presented in [8]
Figure 13. Rotors are made of cast iron for following three reasons [13]:
& It is relatively hard and resists wear. & It is cheaper than
steel or aluminum. & It absorbs and dissipates heat well to
cool the brakes

Mainly three types of mechanical stress is subjected on disc

brake.  Traction force, caused by centrifugal effect and it
occurs when wheel is rotating and no brake force is applied to
the disc.  Compressive force, when the brake is applied due
to action of the force, exerted by pressing the pad
perpendicular onto the surface of the disc.  Due to braking
Figure 3-Mesh Network action caused by rubbing on the brake pad against the surface
of the disc. It acts in opposite direction of the disc rotation.[5]

.[5]
ANALYSIS:
Ali. Belhocine, Abd. Rahim Abu Bakar , Mostefa Bouchetara,
Ansys workbench provides with a large range of analysis that
Structural and contact analysis of disc brake assembly during
can be performed on a certain geometry. Following are the
single stop braking event, American Journal of Mechanics and
steps needed to find a solution or result of any type of design
Applications.
on ANSYS.
1. Open ANSYS Workbench.
2. Select the type of analysis that you want to perform.
3. Choose the material from Engineering Data sources P = Fdisc÷ (As*µ) = 10000 Pa (3)
that you need your geometry to be made of.
4. Then you need to import the required geometry file In equation (3) Fdisc is the force that is being applied on the
on which the analysis is going to be performed. rotor disc. As is the surface area in contact with the brake pads
5. After Importing the file . you need to click on Setup, and µ is the coefficient of the friction. So the total
This will open Mechanical [ANSYS Mechanical Pressure due to the brake pad pressing on the rotor is
Enterprise]. considered to be 1 KPa.
6. After this generate suitable mesh and apply suitable
conditions and constraints. 6.1.
7. Last step is to solve for obtaining results.

Large deformations are occurred at the outer radius of the disc.

The smoothness of the mesh increases the precision of the
solution.
Ventilation provoides a better help for the rotor to let it keep
itself cooler and temperature affects get decreased .
But too many ventilation holes will make the rotor weak and
certain chance/ probability to get fractured.
 Engineering Research and Development (IJMPERD) ISSN(P): 2249-
6890; ISSN(E): 2249-8001 Vol. 4, Issue 1, Feb 2014, 95-112
[7] HowStuffWorks.com<https://auto.howstuffworks.com/auto-
parts/brakes/brake-type/disc-brake.htm> 14 April 2018
[8] http://www.makeitfrom.com/material-properties/Grey_Cast_Iron
asm.matweb.com/search/SpecificMaterial.asp?bassnum=mq316a10
REFERENCES
Ffd
[9] Newcomb, Transient temp attain on disk brakes, Br. J. Applied Physics.
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