An Investigation of Heat Generation Due To Friction Using Finite Element Method

Most of failures in automotive friction clutches occur due to the excessive heat generated between the contact surfaces during the slipping period; for this reason, the accurate calculation of the heat generation during the slipping is considered an essential item in the successful design process to avoid the failures due to the high thermal stresses. A finite element technique has been used to study the temperature field, the heat generation and the contact pressure distribution when friction disc slides over the steel disc. Analysis has been completed using a three dimensional model to simulate the thermo-structural coupling in automotive clutches. ANSYS software has been used to perform the numerical calculation in this paper.