Transient thermoelastic analysis of disk brakes in frictional contact

Abstract

The transient analysis of the thermoelastic contact problem of automotive disk brakes with frictional heat generation is performed using the finite element method. To analyze the thermoelastic phenomenon occurring in disk brakes, the coupled heat conduction and elastic equations are solved with contact problems. In the present work, the fully implicit transient scheme for the thermoelastic analysis is used to improve the accuracy of computations at every time step. The numerical simulation for the thermoelastic behavior of disk brakes is obtained in drag brake condition. The computational results are presented for the distributions of pressure and temperature on each friction surface between the contacting bodies. Also, the thermoelastic instability (TEI) phenomenon (the unstable growth of contact pressure and temperature) is investigated in the present study. The effects of the rotating speed of the disk on thermoelastic behaviors, such as the temperature distribution and contact ratio of the friction surfaces, are investigated.