In a disc brake, when brake disc undergoes a brake cycle lot of heat is generated. The heat generated due to friction has to be dissipated by one or the other modes of heat transfer. Out of the three modes of heat transfer, convection is to be maximized as others may cause deterioration of neighboring parts. The disc is of ventilated type and hence the turbulence and mass flow rate through this ventilated area is to be optimized so as to improve the convective heat transfer coefficient.
In this paper, a numerical investigation of a brake disc is done for studying its aero-thermal behavior and finding alternatives that perform better. An in-depth study of various design changes, previously done for improving heat transfer coefficient in ventilated disc, is done and these changes are incorporated in the existing design. Various design combinations using different design tweaks for improving heat transfer coefficient are made and simulated in component testing like conditions, which are validated against previously done actual experiments. Total of 12 different design iterations were simulated and the one with the highest heat transfer coefficient was analyzed in detail.
