Approaches to the Thermal Modeling of Disc Brakes

This paper presents four different modeling approaches for the thermal analyses of disc brakes. The models, ranging from a simple lumped-parameter model to a complex three-dimensional model, have all been found to be useful depending on the need at hand. A lumped-parameter (zero-dimensional) rotor model predicts transient bulk rotor temperatures, while a one-dimensional model provides peak surface as well as bulk temperatures. A steady-state, two-dimensional model of the entire brake system predicts plateau temperatures during a multi-stop driving schedule. Finally, a complex three-dimensional transient model can be used to obtain detailed local rotor temperature distributions for any stoping sequence. Each modeling approach is presented here with experimental validation of the predicted results.