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2014-01-2497
Published 09/28/2014
Copyright 2014 SAE International
doi:10.4271/2014-01-2497
saepcmech.saejournals.org

Thermal Performance of Disc Brake and CFD Analysis

Bongkeun Choi
Hyundai Mobis

ABSTRACT
In this paper an effective technology of virtual thermal test of disc brake with several advanced analytic techniques was
presented. With the virtual thermal test process, thermal performance of brake system could be easily evaluated without
any possibility of great errors that used to happen in the past.

In addition to the classical result of CFD, this virtual thermal test produced several valuable applications such as thermal
deformation of rotor, optimization of thermal performance and estimation of braking distance.

CITATION: Choi, B., "Thermal Performance of Disc Brake and CFD Analysis," SAE Int. J. Passeng. Cars - Mech. Syst.
7(4):2014, doi:10.4271/2014-01-2497.

INTRODUCTION turbulent steady-state flow analysis is performed to simulate air

flow around brake assembly. After that distribution of HTC
Overheat in brake system is apt to cause vapor lock, brake
(heat transfer coefficient) can be calculated on the specific
fade and brake judder which make the safety and performance
surfaces of brake assembly by steady-state thermal analysis.
of brake system worse. To restrain temperature rise in disc
brake, automotive manufacturers have adopted many kinds of
ventilated disc brakes that have better performance of cooling
than rigid ones. However, high performance of disc brake with
intuitive design is not always guaranteed and time-consuming
trial and errors are not avoidable either.

CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) has come to be one of the

fascinating tools to reduce time and errors when developing
high performance brake system. However there used to exist
many kinds of simplifications and limitations when evaluating
the thermal performance of disc brakes using the analytic
technologies established before.

In this survey, the process of virtual thermal test is suggested

in order to overcome the long lasting limitations of old trials
with the help of the commercial CFD software Starccm+. And
the reliability of the virtual thermal test is presented as well by
examining both the results of real test and virtual test.
Moreover, some valuable engineering applications are
expanded as below with the help of the virtual thermal test Figure 1. Overall process of cooling analysis
technology.
Additional computational domain of rotor solid is prepared to
Estimation of thermal deformation perform unsteady thermal analysis. The distribution of surface
Optimization of thermal performance HTC acquired from steady-state thermal analysis is to be
Prediction of braking distance applied on the solid domain as boundary condition for unsteady
thermal analysis.
VIRTUAL THERMAL TEST
The expected problem of applying HTC to new domain is the
Overall Process
mismatch of grids between two domains, but it can be solved
Overall process of the virtual test technology consists of three by adopting data mapping methodology.
different sub-processes shown in Figure 1. In the beginning 3D
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Figure 2. Driving speed during typical braking modes

Heat generation is calculated based on the braking mode

(Figure 2) and is applied to the frictional surfaces of rotor. Solid
domain is rotated to realize the cooling environment of physical
test.

Steady State Analysis

During physical dynamometer test, complex 3D turbulent flow
field is produced by rotating motion of parts and the additional
cooling air introduced by a blower. To simulate air flow around
rotor, most of the geometries of brake assembly are included in
the computational domain shown in Figure 3. Computational
domain consists of several million polyhedral cells. (Figure 4)

Figure 4. Polyhedral grid system around brake assembly

Figure 3. Computational domain for flow analysis

Velocity and atmospheric pressure is applied respectively to Figure 5. Contours of pressure and HTC on rotor surface
the inlet and outlet of computational domain. Rotating effect of
engaged parts is simulated by moving reference frame. And
the average value of rotating speed is calculated based on
braking mode shown in Figure 2.

Some results of steady-state analysis are shown in Figure 5&6

and the rotational direction of rotor in those figures is counter
clock wise. The interaction between rotational motion and air
flow from inlet produces hardly-expected flow field. Figure 6
shows the distribution of surface HTC which is as complex as
flow field.
Figure 6. Contours of HTC on rotor surface
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Data Mapping
Although total time of physical test is under an hour, computing
time of unsteady thermal analysis would be over several days
with the same domain and grids used in the former steady
state analysis.
Additional solid domain is prepared to reduce computing time
as mentioned before. The distribution of surface HTC is now
mapped on the surface of new solid domain (Figure 7) for
unsteady thermal analysis.
result without further treatment on the solid domain, that is to
say, the region where larger value of HTC was mapped will be
cooled down faster. But if solid domain rotates during unsteady
thermal analysis, the mapped stationary HTC would evenly
affect whole domain in rotational direction and reasonable
distribution of temperature will be calculated. In this paper, the
rotational speed for moving mesh is set to be same as the
rotational speed of rotating walls.

Figure 7. Two types of grid for data mapping

Unsteady Thermal Analysis

As temperature of rotor increases, it was found that specific
heat tends to increase but thermal conductivity tends to
decrease. Variation of both specific heat and thermal
conductivity is applied to unsteady thermal analysis with the
help of polynomial curves (Figure 8).

Figure 9. Schematic representation of moving mesh scheme

The fact that mapped HTC is acquired for a certain position of

Figure 8. Variation of material properties
Frictional heat is calculated by the information of torque and
driving speed during braking period (Figure2). And the heat
generation is applied to the thin volume mesh generated on
corresponding frictional surface.
As rotor temperature rises, the amount of thermal radiation
becomes considerable. In this paper the variable emission of
thermal radiation from each surface is considered in order that
rotor can be cooled down faster when it is hotter.
Since the mapped HTC is always applied to the same location
where it was acquired, it would be impossible to get reasonable
rotor says that the rotor position at every time step for unsteady
thermal analysis must be same as that in steady-state thermal
analysis (Figure 9). It suggests that time step size for unsteady
thermal analysis cannot be arbitrary. Time step size is
determined as shown in equation (1).
(1)
t, , K, and N in equation (1) means time step size (sec),
rotational speed of solid domain (rps), integer, and total
number of fins of rotor respectively. Equation (1) means that
each time step size is same as the time consumed when rotor
rotates at the angle of (K/N)*360.
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Fig.12 and 13 show the variation of temperature during the

alpine braking mode which is a variation of downhill braking
mode. The temperature calculated by virtual test follows the
tendency of physical test very well. And for inner surface of
rotor both graphs acquired by virtual test and physical are
almost same (Figure 12). Table 1 shows temperature of
frictional surface at the end of final braking stage. The reliability
of virtual thermal test based on temperature rise at final stage
is estimated about 97%.

Figure 10. Time history of temperature at frictional surfaces.

Figure 11. Contour of temperature at the end of each stage

Figure 10&11 show the typical results of unsteady thermal

analysis for random braking mode. Even though non-uniform
distribution of HTC was applied, the calculated distribution of
rotor temperature is periodically uniform.
Figure 13. Variation of probe temperature at frictional surface (C,
Table 1. Probe temperature of frictional surfaces outer)

ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS
Here are several CAE applications which are possible with the
help of successful virtual thermal test.

Estimation of Thermal Deformation

It is natural for rotor to expand as temperature rises. However
there are geometric constraints around mounting holes and
non-uniform distribution of temperature, which cause a kind of
distortion of thermal deformation of rotor.

Temperature acquired from unsteady thermal analysis is

mapped on FEA model and initial temperature with geometric
constraints is applied to perform the linear structural analysis.

Figure 14 shows temperature distributions and the patterns of

thermal deformation caused by them for several rear discs.
The value of rotor coning is the major concern of thermal
deformation.

Figure 12. Variation of probe temperature at frictional surface (C,

inner)
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Figure 14. Temperature distributions and patterns of thermal
deformation of several rotors
Optimization of Thermal Performance
When a certain process of virtual thermal test is established, it
is possible to enhance thermal performance and one of the
best ways is optimization. Figure 15 shows the sample of brake
drums and the initial new design is supposed to be optimized.
The objective of optimization is to minimize both temperature
rise and mass of drum.
Figure 15. Old and new brake drums
Main geometric parameters for optimization are shown in
Figure 16. Modified genetic algorithm called Sherpa with 400
samples is used for optimizing process.
Figure 16. Main geometric parameters for thermal optimization
Simplified computational domain and automatic process
including geometric modeling, mesh generation and virtual
thermal test reduces the time of optimization in a day.
Figure 17. Temperature distributions after repeated braking.
Figure 17 and table 2 show the result of optimization. Both
temperature and rotor mass are reduced simultaneously with
optimization of drum geometry.
Table 2. Maximum temperature and mass of drums
Prediction of Braking Distance
Coefficient of friction between rotor and pad is a function of
temperature. When temperature at frictional surface exceeds
critical value, the frictional coefficient starts to decrease rapidly
and brake-fade is apt to happen. (Figure 19)
Since the variation of temperature can be calculated with help
of virtual thermal test, temperature-dependent parameters can
be calculated as well. This is the starting point of the survey.
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Initial driving speed is 100km/h, and braking distances of three

different cars are predicted while same brake assembly and
braking pressure are applied to each car model. (Table 3)

Table 3. Specifications of 3 cars considered

Figure 20 shows the temperature distribution of front rotors

estimated just after cars stop. Heaviest car (model C)
experienced highest temperature as expected.
Figure 18. Wheel on braking

When brake is applied, total frictional power equals to the

change of kinetic energy. And total frictional power is divided
into axle part and tire part as described in equation (2), (3), (4).

(2)

Figure 20. Temperature distribution

(3)
As shown in Figure 21, maximum temperature is captured in
the middle of braking when constant maximum pressure is
(4) applied to piston. Temperature-dependent value of frictional
coefficient increases rapidly at the beginning and stays almost
By integrating equation (2), the formulation of driving speed is constant after half of second. Since ABS (Anti-Lock Brake
derived as follows. System) is not considered, no abrupt change of velocity and
deceleration is captured.

(5)

Figure 19. Charateristic of frictional coefficient with respect to

temperature at frictional surface.

While conventional thermal analysis of brake system is

Figure 21. Time histories of temperature, frictional coefficient, driving
concerned with constant braking torque, prediction of braking
speed and deceleration.
distance is concerned with constant braking pressure.
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Figure 22 shows the time history of driving distance during
single rapid stop. Heaviest model C results in highest rotor
temperature, lowest deceleration and longest braking distance
consequentially.
Figure 22. Driving distance during single rapid stop
Figure 23 shows the change of braking distance of model A
during multiple stops based on Autobild braking mode. Every
initial driving speed is130 km/h and rapid stops are applied ten
times sequentially.
As the number of braking stage increase, rotor temperature
and braking distance increase which is typically called brake
fade. Comparison of prediction and measurement is shown in
figure 23 for the first and final stage. Those values represent
fairly good agreement
More and more valuable applications which are still hidden can
be mined with the help of expandable virtual thermal test.
REFERENCES
1. Okamura, T. and Yumoto, H., Fundamental Study on Thermal
Behavior of Brake Discs, SAE Technical Paper 2006-01-3203,
2006, doi:10.4271/2006-01-3203.
2. Huang, Y. and Chen, S., Analytical Study of Design Parameters
on Cooling Performance of a Brake Disk, SAE Technical Paper
2006-01-0692, 2006, doi:10.4271/2006-01-0692.
3. Sun, H., Sensitivity Study on Brake Cooling Performance, SAE
Technical Paper 2006-01-0694, 2006, doi:10.4271/2006-01-0694.
4. Eppler, S., Klenk, T., and Wiedemann, J., Thermal Simulation
within the Brake System Design Process, SAE Technical Paper
2002-01-2587, 2002, doi:10.4271/2002-01-2587.
5. Edara, R., Heavy Vehicle Disc Brake Components Design
Using CAE Tools, SAE Technical Paper 2006-01-3559, 2006,
doi:10.4271/2006-01-3559.
6. Valvano, T. and Lee, K., An Analytical Method to Predict Thermal
Distortion of a Brake Rotor, SAE Technical Paper 2000-01-0445,
2000, doi:10.4271/2000-01-0445.
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During Braking and Heat Soaking, SAE Technical Paper 1999-
01-0483, 1999, doi:10.4271/1999-01-0483.
8. Phan, D. and Kondyles, D., Rotor Design and Analysis; A
Technique Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Heat
Transfer Analysis, SAE Technical Paper 2003-01-3303, 2003,
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9. Dwivedi, R., Performance of MMC Rotors in Dynamometer
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doi:10.4271/940848.
10. Incropera Frank P., DeWitt David P., Introduction to Heat
Transfer, 2nd Ed., John Wiley & Sons, 1990.
11. Limpert, R., Brake Design and Safety, Third Edition, SAE
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12. Starccm+ User's Guide, 2014.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Bongkeun Choi
bong82@mobis.co.kr

DEFINITIONS/ABBREVIATIONS
A - Piston area (m2)
P - Frictional power (W)
Figure 23. Change of braking distance according to the number of
Re - Effective radius (m)
braking stage (Autobild braking mode)
Rr - Rolling radius (m)
V - Driving speed (m/s)
SUMMARY/CONCLUSIONS
V0 - Initial driving speed (m/s)
With the help of advanced technologies including data mapping
Xf - Ratio of braking torque to front wheel
scheme and moving mesh scheme, a reliable process of virtual
g - Gravity (m/s2)
thermal test was developed and it can afford to replace
physical thermal test. m - Mass of car (kg)
p - Oil pressure (Pa)
Several interesting engineering applications including - Frictional coefficient of rotor
estimation of thermal deformation, optimization of thermal T - Frictional coefficient of tire
performance and prediction of braking distance could be also
- Inertia factor
developed based on the virtual thermal test.
- Slip factor
- Angular speed of rotor (rad/s)

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