Computational fluid dynamics modeling and computation of convective heat coefficient transfer for automotive disc brake rotors

Abstract

The braking network of an automobile is one of its most important control systems. For many years, disc brakes have been used for safe retardation of a vehicle. During braking, an enormous amount of heat is generated, and for effective braking, sufficient heat dissipation is essential. The thermal performance of a disc brake depends on characteristics of the airflow around the brake rotor; hence, aerodynamics is key in the region of brake components. Using ANSYS CFX software, we performed a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis on a brake system to study the behavior of airflow distribution around disc brake components. We were interested in the determination of the heat-transfer coefficient on each surface of a ventilated disc rotor, varying with time in a transient state. Using CFD analysis, we imported surface film condition data into a corresponding finite-element method for disc temperature analysis.