Date of Award
5-1-2018
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Mechanical Engineering
First Advisor
Filip, Peter
Abstract
Despite many research pieces on brake systems, there is still research to be done on brake pad geometry and the dissipation of heat during brake engagements using the finite element analysis method. Brake application is a process in which the kinetic energy of the vehicle is mostly converted into thermal energy and then dissipated in the form of heat. Based on dynamometer test results it was seen that brake pad temperatures could reach up to 600° C [23]. Preliminary research using computer modeling software has shown that heat dissipation in brake pads with wavy geometries and air channels from the top to bottom is much better compared to pads that do not have those specific features. Brake pads that dissipate heat faster are prone to brake fade and other braking issues that may arise due to overheating [15]. For this research, two readily available brake pads and two designs of brake pads with new geometry were modeled using CAE software. Finite element analysis was then performed to test how well each brake pad dissipated heat after reaching brake fade temperatures. The readily available brake pads were from Power Stop and Wagner [26]. ANSYS Space Claim [25] was used to design and model the brake pads, ANSYS 18.2 [24] was used to perform the finite element analysis on the pads. After performing the analysis, results indicate that a brake pad with a design that had zones for turbulent air at ambient conditions and convection slots from the top to the bottom decreased in temperature by about 90° C more in the same time compared to the conventional design. By studying the changing values of the convection heat transfer coefficient with velocity, the placing of the turbulence zones can be more precise in order attain greater airflow to remove heat from the brake pad quicker.
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