Simulation of Airborne Wear Particles from Disc Brakes

During braking, both the rotor and the pads are worn in disc brakes. This wear process generates particles which may become airborne. In passenger car field tests it is difficult to distinguish these particles from others in the surrounding environment. It may therefore be preferable to use laboratory test stands and/or simulation models to study the amount of airborne wear particles generated. This paper discusses the possibility of predicting the number distribution of airborne wear particles generated from the pad to rotor contact in disc brakes by using general purpose finite element software. A simulation methodology is proposed where the particle coefficient is established by testing at material level. This coefficient is then used in numerical wear simulation at component level. The simulated number distribution is compared to experimental measurements at component level. The result indicates that the proposed methodology may be used to predict the number and distribution of airborne particles generated from the pad to rotor contact.