Thermo-elastic modelling of high performance braking systems

The thermal and structural behaviour of carbon-carbon disc brake and pads have been studied. A literature review was conducted to investigate recent research that has been completed in many areas related to thermo-elastic modelling of braking systems. The friction forces generated during braking between brake pads and disc produce high thermal gradients on the rubbing surfaces. Thermo-elastic deformation results in contact concentration, leading to the non uniform distribution of temperature and pressure making the disc susceptible to hot bands and hot spots formation. The present paper proposes a simplified modelling concept useful in the preliminary brake system design phase. Furthermore, a full finite element model related to structural/thermal analysis is presented as well. The thermoelastic behaviour has been investigated experimentally under different braking conditions. The models (simplified and full FE) have been validated experimentally on the basis of indoor tests results. The accuracy of the two models is good, but the computational effort required by the full FE model can be very high.