Comparison of Established Heavy Brake Heating/Cooling Models with HVE Brake Designer® in a Real Mountain Accident

In this paper, a real-world accident that involved a tractor-semitrailer that lost its brakes on a steep downgrade is analyzed. The crash was caused by brake loss due to massive overheating caused by inoperative brakes, driving too fast for conditions, and driving in an improper gear. The effect on brake temperatures from prior uphill and downhill stretches encountered just before the crash is considered. The crash is analyzed using a Microsoft® Excel spreadsheet-based transient brake model for three sets of published brake temperature modeling methodologies and parameters: The Grade Severity Rating System developed by NHTSA (GSRS), a model developed by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), and a model developed by Rudolf Limpert (Limpert). A fourth and different approach utilized a heavy truck simulation (HVE-SIMON™) with HVE Brake Designer®. The results of this analysis using the four models are compared.