A High Aerodynamic Performance Brake Rotor Design Method for Improved Brake Cooling

Brake rotor design plays a very important role in brake cooling. As discussed in a previous paper [1], brake rotor design is a central piece of brake system cooling optimization. Based on this fact, a systematic effort has been made to develop a high flow rate brake rotor by using analytical and computational fluid mechanics tools The rotor development described in this paper consists of three stages: 1. rotor configuration design; 2 selection of the number of vanes (webs); 3. flow passage design. Development in stages 1 and 2 is guided by analytical fluid mechanics while that in stage 3 is pursued by using computational fluid dynamics tool supported by theoretical fluid mechanics. The resulted patented design [2] of the brake rotor demonstrates its high aerodynamics performance: the cooling flow rate through the rotor is increased by 42% compared with the conventional rotor and there is no additional manufacturing complexity. With this increased cooling flow rate of the rotor, the cooling performance of the brake system is improved notably and the role of the rotor in brake cooling is greatly enhanced. This new aerodynamic rotor design has provided a technical advantage and is currently being used in GM vehicles.