An FEA Implementation of Energy Flow for Brake Squeal

The standard method for using FEA to predict and eliminate brake squeal has been to use complex eigenvalue analysis (CEA). Energy flow analysis has been adapted for use with FEA for brake squeal as an alternate mechanism for squeal prediction. This paper demonstrates an implementation of energy flow analysis with commercially available FEA software. The approach leverages the ability of commercial FEA solvers to obtain a quasi-static, pre-loaded brake model, as well as their eigenvalue extraction algorithms to create a modal space for energy flow calculations. The modal spaces as well as the pre-loaded stiffness matrix are then utilized to calculate energy flow values between nearby system modes. Three case studies are presented that compare the results of CEA and energy flow to different systems and countermeasures adopted to reduce noise occurrence in physical testing.