Comparative thermomechanical analysis of disk brake rotors using finite element technique

Vehicular brake systems utilize the conversion of kinetic energy into friction-induced heat generation for deceleration to enact a complete stop. The different components comprising a brake system determines how the heat generated dissipates throughout the entire process. Common approaches for reducing the thermal stresses developed during braking include varying ventilation styles and choosing various types of material for the rotor and pads. The design of brake systems is vital to their efficiency and effectiveness and require extensive research and development. The purpose of this study is to develop a technique for designing disk brake rotors using finite element analysis in ANSYS Workbench. Major considerations that have been addressed in this report are the brake rotor material selection and ventilation style when rotors are subjected to cyclic thermal loading and unloading phases. This experiment created a simple gray cast, 3D iron brake rotor with three ventilation style derivatives: rectangular slat, teardrop slat, and solid designs. A medium tetrahedral meshing with refinement set to each edge of all faces was utilized in this work. The ambient temperature for all simulations was set to 300 Kelvin. Implementation of a transient thermal analysis for the braking cycle, a fluent analysis for the cooling cycle, and static structural analysis was implemented in ANSYS Workbench. It was found that a solid disk brake rotor takes longer to heat and cool when compared to ventilated disks. Also, when the disk material was set to grey cast iron, the heat generated was around 2 to 3 times smaller when compared to SICOM, a new composite ceramic brake rotor used in high performance brake applications.