FE Prediction of Thermal Performance and Stresses in a Disc Brake System

The brake system is one of the most critical systems in the automotive vehicle. Its design is a challenging task since stringent performance and packaging requirements are to be fully met - optimizing the brake performance and weight of the brake system. The brake disc is an important component in the braking system which is expected to withstand and dissipate the heat generated during the braking event. Validation of brake disc design through CAE/FEA is presented in this paper. The procedure for prediction of thermal performance was developed in-house, tuned and verified by correlating with Test data available for existing-design and then applied to the new-design brake disc. The correlation achieved for the existing-design brake disc (both solid and ventilated), procedure for prediction of thermo-mechanical performance (heat transfer coefficient estimation, temperature distribution etc.) are also included.