Thermal Analysis of Ventilated Disc Brake Rotor for UTeM Formula Varsity Race Car

THERMAL ANALYSIS OF VENtILAtED DISC BRAKE ROtOR FOR UTEM FORMuLA VARSItY RACE CAR
Mohd Firdaus Abu Bakar1, Muhd Ridzuan Mansor2, Mohd Zaid Akop3, Mohd Afzanizam Mohd Rosli4, Mohd Azli Salim5
1 2 3 4 5

, , , , Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Durian Tunggal, 76109 Durian Tunggal, Melaka. Email: 1epi_shuvit@yahoo.com.my ABSTRACT A new design of disc brake using ventilated rotor was developed for the UTeM Formula Varsity racing car. Compacted graphite cast iron (CGI) was proposed as the material for the disc brake rotor. Thermal analysis was performed in this project to assess the component performance using ABAQUS/CAE v6.7-1 finite element analysis software both in transient condition. Results from the analysis show that the maximum temperature generated on the disc brake surface at the end of the braking procedure for transient condition was within the allowable service temperature of the ventilated rotor material. Thus, the new disc brake rotor is safe for operation and is expected to perform successfully as per design requirement. KEYWORDS: formula varsity, disc brake rotor, thermal analysis, finite element analysis.

1.0 INTRODUCTION Formula Varsity is a student racing competition organized by Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM) (Faieza et.al, 2009). The competition was inspired by similar formula style racing competition such as Formula SAE where students compete in the challeng e to design, fabricate, and race a single-seat open wheel formula style racing car in real track condition (http://students.sae. org). The UTeM Formula Varsity racing team took part in the Formula Varsity 2008 that was held in Melaka, and successfully emerged as the runner-up in the competition. Based on the valuable experiences gained from the event, design improvements had been initiated for the new version of the UTeM Formula Varsity racing car that would be competing in the upcoming 2010 Formula Varsity competition. One of the improvement taken was to redesign the disc brake rotor for the braking system of the new racing car.

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In response towards the above goal, this project was conducted to study the performance of the new disc brake rotor design for the UTeM Formula Varsity racing car. Three dimensional geometrical model of the new component was created using CATIA V5 CAD software while commercial finite element analysis software ABAQUS/CAE was used to determine the thermal distribution and maximum temperature generated on the disc brake rotor surface in transient condition. Load analysis was also performed to determine the heat flux load and surface convection coefficient for the new rotor design. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW The main function of disc brake rotor is for transmission of mechanical force and dissipation of heat produced implies to be functioning at both medium and high temperature. The rotor provides braking surface or friction surface for brake pads to rub against it when brake is applied. A disc brake rotor is generally made from grey cast iron due to cast iron provides good wear resistance with high thermal conductivity and the production cost is low compared to other disc brake rotor materials such as Al-MMC, carbon composites and ceramic based composites (Jang et.al, 2003). Currently, there are two types of disc brake rotor used in passenger car which is solid disc and ventilated disc. A solid rotor is simply a solid piece of metal with friction surface on each side and this type of rotor is light, simple, cheap, and easy to manufacture. A ventilated disc meanwhile refers to the brake disc or rotor with various opening profiles (holes, grooves, etc.) which provide better cooling performance (additional heat transfer function) and weight savings as well as aesthetic appearance (Jacobsson, 2003). Therefore, it is widely used compared to solid disc. The thermal stability of the disc shape is influenced by the quantity of the material and the heat treatment before machining as well as the basic design for the disc rotor. Some of the thermally most important properties of disc brake rotor are as follows (Jacobsson, 2003):i) Thermal capacitance (density and specific heat) is the ability to store the heat. Initially on braking process, a significant amount of frictional heat is stored and during short braking, this thermal capacitance is dominates. Heat dissipation becomes important consideration at long braking times (above 2-3 minutes). The
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Thermal Analysis of Ventilated Disc Brake Rotor for UTeM Formula Varsity Race Car

iii)

iv)

convection is occurring for more than 90% of the total heat dissipation in most of the braking condition, whereby radiation is almost negligible. Thermal conductivity is the ability to re-distribute the thermal energy. During long and low intensity braking, the peak temperature is depends largely on the disc materials conductivity. However, the thermal conductivity has a little effect during short braking. Thermal expansion coefficient (related to location of friction contact due to the thermal deformation) affects the tendency towards hot spotting and thermal disc thickness variation (DTV) generation. The temperature gradients of the disc brake can cause to temporary DTV owing to the uneven thermal expansion of the material.

Heat transfer is energy in transit, which occurs as result of a temperature gradient or difference. This temperature difference is thought of as a driving force that causes heat to flow. Heat transfer for a ventilated disc brake rotor occurs by three mechanism or modes: conduction, convection and radiation. Ventilated disc brake generally exhibit convective heat transfer coefficient that is approximately twice as large as those associated with solid discs. During a continued braking, a ventilated disc usually tends to reach a temperature which is approximately 60% of the temperature of a solid disc. Excessive thermal heat (which in more severe cases where it exceeds the allowable thermal capacity of the disc brake material especially for the rotor), generate undesirable thermal stress with few unfavorable conditions such as surface cracks and permanent disc brake distortion. These defects can give result to failure of the component during operation and may cause life casualties to onboard passenger of the vehicle.

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3.0 METHODOLOGY
3.0

The overall thermal analysis procedure performed in this project is shown in Figure 1 procedure below. performed in this project is shown in Figure 1 below. The overall thermal analysis

METHODOLOGY

Figure 1 Overall thermal flowchart chart Figure 1 Overall thermalanalysis analysis flow

The new brakeutilized rotorthe design utilized the ventilated concept The new disc brakedisc rotor design ventilated concept where ventilation holes were created in symmetrical configurationholes for thewere designcreated to enablein higher cooling capability and reduce for in weight where ventilation symmetrical configuration compared to solid rotor disc. Ahigher part from that, compacted graphite cast iron in or weight CGI was also the design to enable cooling capability and reduce proposed as the new material for the rotor design where it offers lower material density and higher compared to solid rotor disc. A part from that, compacted graphite cast specific heat compared to gray cast iron which is used for the current disc brake rotor iron or CGI was also proposed as thecast new material the rotor (http://www.sintercast.com). Compacted graphite iron is able for to provide the design weight saving where it offers lower material density and higher specific heat compared advantage which can notably contribute in reducing the overall car weight. The 3D model of the new rotor design as shown in Figure belowfor wasthe created using CATIA V5 R16 CAD software and to gray cast iron which is2used current disc brake rotor (http:// is used as the geometrical model for the finite element modeling during the thermal analysis stage. www.sintercast.com). Compacted graphite cast iron is able to provide the weight saving advantage which can notably contribute in reducing the overall car weight. The 3D model of the new rotor design as shown in Figure 2 below was created using CATIA V5 R16 CAD software and is used as the geometrical model for the finite element modeling during the thermal analysis stage.

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Figure 2 The 3D model of the new ventilated disc brake rotorn design Figure 2 The 3D mo odel of the ne ew ventilate ed disc brake e rotor design
beentransfer determ In I the analysis ge, heat flux x and conve ction heat and tr ransfer coeff ficients has mined Inload the load stag analysis stage, heat flux convection heat driver) as st 2008 based b coefficients on the e minimum overall car load l (total c ar curb weig ght and one tated in the has been determined based on the minimum overall car Formula F Va arsity car de esign specifi ication whic ch is 200 kg g (http://form mulavarsity. .wordpress.c com). (total car curb weight and one driver) in the 2008 Finite F load eleme ent software ABAQUS/C CAE v6.7-1 was used during d as stated the th hermal analy ysis Formula stage. In n this Varsity car design specification which is 200 kg (http://formulavarsity. stage, the material m prop perties, load and bounda ary condition ns as well a as meshing properties p ar re all Figure 2ical The 3D brak mo odel of the ne ew ventilate ed disc brake e rotor design n assigned a wordpress.com). to the t geometri disc ke rotor mod del. Finite element software ABAQUS/CAE v6.7-1 was In I the load analysis stag ge, heat flux x and convection heat tr ransfer coeff ficients has been determ mined load and boundary conditions as and well asdriver) meshing properties as st based b on the e minimum overall car load l (total car curb weig ght one tated in the 2008 4.0 4 properties, LOA AD ANALY YSIS assigned to the geometrical disc rotormulavarsity. model. .wordpress.c Formula F are all Va arsity car de esign specifi ication whic ch is 200brake kg g (http://form com). Finite F eleme ent software ABAQUS/C CAE v6.7-1 was used dient analysis during the th hermal analy ysis In n this A total of 1 0 braking cy ycles were applied a durin ng the transi s in this proj jectstage. with ve ehicle stage, the material merns as prop perties, load ary ns asFigure well a as p ar re all and bounda braking b patt sugg gested by Go otowicki (200 05) condition as shown n in 3 3. meshing properties assigned a to the t geometri ical disc brak ke rotor mod del.

used during the thermal analysis stage. In this stage, the material

4.0 LOAD ANALYSIS

A total of 10 braking cycles were applied during the transient analysis LOA AD ANALY YSIS in this project with vehicle braking patterns as suggested by Gotowicki A total of 10as braking cy ycles applied a 3. durin ng the transi ient analysis s in this proj ject with ve ehicle (2005) shown in were Figure
4.0 4 braking b patterns as sugg gested by Go otowicki (200 05) as shown n in Figure 3 3.

Figure 3 Sp peed versus t time for 10 cycles c of bra aking The T heat flu ux applied to o the disc br rake rotor is s calculated during the braking b stag ge. Total bra aking time t for eac ch cycle is 2.83 2 seconds s, correspond ding to the amount a of ti ime the brak ke rotor is he eated during d opera ation. To sim mplify the an nalysis, sever ral assumpti ions have been made as follows:f i) All A kinetic energy e at disc brake rot tor surface is i converted d into frictio onal heat or heat Figure 3 Speed versus timefor for 10 of braking Figure 3 Sp peed versus t time 10 c cycles cycles of bra aking flux. f The T The heat flu ux applied o applied the disc br rake rotor disc is s calculated during theis b calculated braking stag ge. Total bra aking heat fluxto to the brake rotor during time t for eac ch cycle is 2.83 2 seconds s, correspond ding to the amount a of ti ime the brak ke rotor is he eated the braking stage. Total braking time for each cycle is 2.83 seconds, during d opera ation. To sim mplify the an nalysis, sever ral assumpti ions have been made as follows:f

corresponding to the amount of time the brake rotor is heated during i) All A kinetic esimplify at disc brake rot tor surface i converted is d into frictio onal heat been or heat operation. To energy the analysis, several assumptions have f as follows:madeflux.
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All kinetic energy at disc brake rotor surface is converted into frictional heat or heat flux. ii) The heat transfer involved for this analysis only conduction process and convection. This heat transfer radiation can be neglected in this analysis because of small amount which is 5% to 10% (Limpert, 1999). iii) In this analysis, the ambient temperature has been set to 22oC while for initial temperature for disc ii) The T heat tra ansfer involv ved for this analysis on nly conducti ion process and convec ction. brake rotor is 50oC (Hwang et.al, 2007). This T heat tra ansfer radiat tion can be neglected in n this analys sis because of small am mount other possible which w iv) is 5% All to 10% (Lim mpert, 1999) ).disc brake loads are neglected. iii) Inv) lysis, ambient tem mperature as been set t to 22oapply C while w with for in nitial this anal Onlythe certain parts of disc ha brake rotor will o temperature for f disc brak ke rotor is 50 0 C (Hwangsuch et. al, 2007) convection heat transfer as ). the cross-drilled iv) All A other pos ssible disc br rake loads ar re neglected. area, cooling vanes area, outer ring diameter area a the v) Only O certain parts of disc c brake rotor r will apply with convec ction heat tra ansfer such as and discng brake surface. cross-drilled c area, coolin vanes area a, outer ring diameter are ea and disc brake b surface.
load analysi leshown 1 below. in The T The overall is result is sh hown in Tab overall load analysis result is

i)

Table 1 below.

Table 1 Load analysis results

T Table 1 Load analysis re esults

5.0 5

The T overall l finite elem ment modeli ing process can be div vided into t three stages which are preprocessing, p The overall solutionfinite and d post-proce essing as sho own in Figu ure 4.can In the sing stage, linear pre-process element modeling process be divided into three transient t stages the ermal analys sis option w was selected and the ge eometrical m model was im mported into the which are pre-processing, solution and post-processing o as ABAQUS/C A CAE softwar re. Load and d boundary condition c val lues are defined for the model m using g heat in Figure In the pre-processing stage, transient thermal flux shown and co onvection he eat 4. transfer coefficient values deter rmined linear earli ier during th he load ana alysis stage. Durin ng the mesh hing stages, DCC3D8 hex-element h type was chosen, with h global seed ds of 0.002m 0 for better mesh hing result. The final component c a after meshin ng yields 22 2 380 number of 124 ISSN: 2180-3811 Vol. 2 June 2011

5.0 FINITE ELEMENT MODELING

FINI ITE ELEM MENT MOD DELING

Thermal Analysis of Ventilated Disc Brake Rotor for UTeM Formula Varsity Race Car

analysis option was selected and the geometrical model was imported into the ABAQUS/CAE software. Load and boundary condition values are defined for the model using heat flux and convection heat transfer coefficient values determined earlier during the load analysis stage. During the meshing stages, DCC3D8 hex-element type was chosen, with global seeds of 0.002m for better meshing result. The final component after meshing yields 22 380 number of elements and is shown in Figure 5. Two steps are defined for every braking cycle, which are 2.83 seconds elements and is shown in Figure 5. Two steps are defined for every braking cycle, which are 2.83 for braking and seconds for cooling. Thus, each cycle comprise seconds for and 29.17 seconds cooling. Thus, for each cycle comprise of 32 seconds or a elements andbraking is shown in29.17 Figure 5. Two for steps are defined every braking cycle, which are of 2.83 32 or a all total of 320 for seconds alleach 10 cycles. total ofseconds 320 seconds for 10 cycles. seconds for braking and 29.17 seconds cooling.for Thus, cycle comprise of 32 seconds or a
total of 320 seconds for all 10 cycles.

Figure 4 Finite element modeling stages Figure 4 Finite element modeling stages Figure 4 Finite element modeling stages

(a) (b) Figure 5 Disc brake (a) rotor (a) before meshing, (b) (b) after meshing Figure 5 Disc brake rotor(a) (a) before before meshing, (b) (b) after meshing Figure 5 Disc brake rotor meshing, after meshing

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6.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION In practice, typical service condition for automotive brake discs RES SULTS AND D DISCUSS SION consist of frequent and quick engagement cycles therefore making it In I practice, typical serv vice conditi ion for auto omotive brak ke discs con nsist of from freq quent and quick q predominantly in transient scheme. Therefore, the results transient engagement e analysis t cycles refore makin ng it predom minantly in transient sch heme. There efore, the re esults are ther often more desirable in predicting the actual performance from transie ent analysis are often more m desirab ble in predic cting the act tual perform mance of the disc of the disc during operation. The overallf temperature versus time on forin during d oper ration. The overall tem mperature ve ersus time for ten cycl les of braki ing operatio of braking operation in transient mode is shown in Figure 6. transient t ten cycles mo ode is shown n in Figure 6.
6.0 6

Figure 6 Surface temperature of the new disc brake rotor for 10th cycles Fig gure 6 Surfac ce temperatu ure of the new w disc brake e rotor for 10 0th cycles of braking of braking
From F Figure e 6, it can be e seen that th he maximum m temperature e generated at the end of f the 10th cyc cle is o about a From 288.4Figure C. The abo ove graph als so shows the ethe behavior o the ventil of ated rotor du uring contin nuous 6, it can be seen that maximum temperature generated braking, b wh here the surfa face tempera ature on the disc surface e increased a as the numb ber of subseq quent at the end of the 10th cycle is about 288.4oC. The above graph also shows braking b is increased. Fo or compacte ed graphite cast iron, th he allowable e service tem mperature of o the behavior of0o the during continuous braking, where material m the is b between -16 C toventilated 550oC. Thus,rotor the e maximum temperature e recorded at a the end of f 320 seconds b braking oper ration is still l within the a acceptable s service temperature as for the t CGI the material, the of surface temperature on the disc surface increased number and a of therefor re the new disc d brake ro otor is able to withstand d the therma al load subje ected to it safety subsequent braking is increased. For compacted graphite cast iron, without w over rheating and d failure. o

the allowable service temperature of the material is between -160 C to 550oC. Thus, the maximum temperature recorded at the end of 320 seconds of braking operation is still within the acceptable service temperature for the CGI material, and therefore the new disc brake rotor is able to withstand the thermal load subjected to it safety without overheating and failure

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Figure 7 Temperature distribution of surface the rotor surface end of 1st Figure 7 Temperature distribution of the rotor at the end of at 1st the cycle of braking
The thermal analysis result also reveals the behaviour of rotor when subjected frictional load during braking as shown in Figure 7 above. The temperature distribution on the disc surface varies The thermal analysis result also reveals the behaviour of rotor when according to the location of contact between the brake caliper and the rotor. It can be seen that that subjected frictional load during braking as shown 7 above. highest temperature is generated on the exact point of contact between in the Figure brake caliper and the rotor, and temperature the temperature gradually decreases become nearer varies to the brake disc hub. to The The distribution onwhen the it disc surface according temperature decrease is contact observed between due to the the cooling effect that took place through convection the location of brake caliper and the rotor. It can process.

cycle of braking

be seen that that highest temperature is generated on the exact point of contact between the brake caliper and the rotor, and the temperature CONCLUSION gradually decreases when it become nearer to the brake disc hub. The In conclusion, thermaldecrease analysis foris theobserved new ventilated disc brake design effect of the UTeM temperature due to therotor cooling that Formula took Varsity racing car has shown that the new design is able to withstand the heat generated during place through convection process. braking without failure. Thus, the new disc brake rotor is expected to function successfully as per
7.0 design requirement for the new UTeM Formula Varsity racing car. 8.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 7.0 CONCLUSION

The authors would like to express sincere thanks to Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti In conclusion, thermal analysis for the new ventilated disc brake rotor Teknikal Malaysia Melaka for endless support throughout this project. 9.0

About Formula SAE. retrieved online from http://students.sae.org/competitions/formulaseries/ about.htm. CGI Material Datasheet. retrieved online from http://www.sintercast.com. 8.0 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT H. Jang, J. H. Yoon, S. J. Kim, J. Y. Lee and H. D. Park. 2003. The Effect of Composition and Microstructure of Gray Cast Iron on Preferential Wear During Parasitic Drag and on The authors would like to express sincere thanks to Faculty of Intrinsic Damping Capacity . SAE Technical Paper Series. SAE 2003-01-3313.

design of the UTeM Formula Varsity racing car has shown that the REFERENCES new design is able to withstand the heat generated during braking without failure. Thus, the new disc brake rotor is expected to function A. A. Faieza, S. M. Sapuan, M. K. A. Ariffin, B. T. H. T. Baharudin and E. E. Supeni. 2009. successfully as per design requirement for the new UTeM Formula Design and Fabrication of a Student Based Racing Car. Journal of Scientific Research and Varsity racing car. Essay. Volume 4. No. 5. pp. 361-366.

Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka for endless support throughout this project.

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9.0 REFERENCES
A. A. Faieza, S. M. Sapuan, M. K. A. Ariffin, B. T. H. T. Baharudin and E. E. Supeni. 2009. Design and Fabrication of a Student Based Racing Car. Journal of Scientific Research and Essay. Volume 4. No. 5. pp. 361-366. About Formula SAE. retrieved online from competitions/formulaseries/ about.htm. http://students.sae.org/

CGI Material Datasheet. retrieved online from http://www.sintercast.com. H. Jang, J. H. Yoon, S. J. Kim, J. Y. Lee and H. D. Park. 2003. The Effect of Composition and Microstructure of Gray Cast Iron on Preferential Wear During Parasitic Drag and on Intrinsic Damping Capacity. SAE Technical Paper Series. SAE 2003-01-3313. Jacobsson. H. 2003. Aspects of Disc Brake Judder. Professional Engineering Publishing, Volume 217. Number 6. pp. 419-430. P. F. Gotowicki, V. Nigrelli, G. B. Mariotti, D. Aleksendric and C. Duboka. 2005. Numerical and Experimental Analysis of a Pegs-Wing Ventilated Disc Brake Rotor, With Pads and Cylinders. Beograd 2005 EAEC European Automotive Congress Paper EAE05YU-AS04. pp. 1-15. P. Hwang, X. Wu, S. W. Cho and Y. B. Jeon. 2007. Temperature and Coning Analysis of Ventilated Brake Disc Based on Finite Element Technique. SAE Technical Paper Series. SAE 2007-01-3670. R. Limpert. 1999. Brake Design and Safety. 2nd Ed. Warrendale, Pennsylvania: Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) Inc. Rules of Formula Varsity UTeM. retrieved online from http://formulavarsity. wordpress.com/rules-of-formula-varsity-utem.

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