International Journal of Engineering Research and Development (IJERD)

International Journal of Engineering Research and Development
e-ISSN: 2278-067X, p-ISSN: 2278-800X, www.ijerd.com
Volume 8, Issue 9 (September 2013), PP. 62-67
62
Study Effect of Pads shapes on Temperature Distribution for Disc
Brake Contact Surface
Saeed Abu Alyazeed Albatlan
Higher Technological Institute, 10th of Ramadan City, 6th October Branch. Cairo, Egypt
ABSTRACT
This study describes an inertial dynamometer system (test rig) which has been applied to the testing of disc
brake pads at different operating conditions. The test rig is equipped with several measuring instruments, and
data acquisition systems [DAQ], which are necessary for performing the tests. Two sets of brake pads are tested.
This study explains the temperature distribution obtained by experiments on two different shapes of brake discs
pads affected by the types of shapes of brake discs pads, disc geometry and operating conditions. The test results
also showed that the friction with hatched pad better fade resistance than the others.
Keywords: - disc brake; thermal stress; hatched pads; temperature distribution.
I. INTRODUCTION
During the operation of the brake system, kinetic energy is converted into thermal energy through
friction between the brake pad and rotor faces. Excessive thermal loading can result in surface cracking, judder
and high wear of the rubbing surfaces. High temperatures can also lead to overheating of the brake fluid, seals
and other components. Initially the generated thermal energy is transferred by conduction to the components in
contact and next by convection and radiation to environment (Fig.1) as explained in [1, 2, 3]. Brakes absorb the
kinetic energy of moving masses by help of friction forces. The dynamic of braking process depends on friction
pair materials, loading and temperature, as well as impact of environment [4]. Limpert [5] compared the solid
and ventilated rotor thermal performance and concluded that the total convective heat transfer coefficient
consisted of approximately one-third cooling from the vanes, and two-thirds from the friction surfaces exposed
to the ambient air. Temperature distribution and comparison of simulation results and experimental results in the
disc by 2D thermal analysis using axisymmetricmodel is presented in[6]. In [7] showed through experiment that
the brake torque variation depends on several factors such as the temperature, the number of revolutions and the
disc depends on several factors such as the temperature, thickness variation. The analytical modeling and
dynamic characteristics of disc brake systems under equal contact loads on both sides of the disc can be found in
[8]. New mathematical equations for heat generation between disc brake and pads include on parameters such
as the duration of braking, vehicle velocity, geometries and the dimensions of the brake components, materials
of the disk brake rotor and the pad and contact pressure distribution are shown in [9]. The factors affecting the
interface temperature, including the number of braking applications, sliding speed, braking load and type of
friction material are presented in [10]. Thermal analysis of a brake system requires frictional energy dissipation
as a heat input. Frictional heat dissipation can be easily determined under the dynamometer laboratory
conditions where the brake torque and the rotational speed of the brake disk are know. For vehicle braking the
frictional heat dissipation should be determined from the given vehicle and brake system parameters [11]. In [12]
determined the transient temperature distributions in a disc brake during a single brake application using Finite
difference numerical technique. Hyperbolic heat conduction which includes the effect of the finite heat
propagation is gaining importance.
This paper aims to study and compare the temperature distributions caused by mutual sliding of two
members of the disc brake pads, and describes an inertial dynamometer system which has been applied to the
testing of disc brake assembly at different operating conditions.

Study Effect of Pads shapes on Temperature Distribution for Disc Brake Contact Surface
63
Fig. 1: Heat dissipation inside and outside the discs due to conduction, convection and radiation [3]
II. THEORETICAL ANALYSIS
2.1 Determination of Kinetic Friction Coefficient
It is essential to determine coefficient of friction that is generated between the disc and the pad contact
interface. It has been known that coefficient of friction would be changed under different braking operating
conditions such as brake-line pressure, disc speed, temperature and other factors.
Braking torque can be calculated as follows:
efffriction rFT 
(1)
Where Ffriction is the friction force generated at the contact interface and reff is the effective pad radius.
However friction force is dependent upon normal force (Fnormal) and friction coefficient (μ), which is derived as
below:
normalfriction FF 
(2)
Normal force (Fnormal) can be determined based on brake-line pressure (p) applied onto top of the piston,
which is given in the following equation:
pistonnormal pAF 
(3)
Now by substituting equation (3) into equations (2) and then (1), braking torque can be calculated as follows:
effpiston rpAT 
(4)
For a disc brake system there is a pair of brake pads, thus the total brake torque is:
effpiston rpAT 2
(5)
Since the braking torque output (T) can be obtained experimentally, and the cross sectional area of the
piston in contact with the braking fluid (Apiston), brake-line pressure (p) and pad effective radius (reff) are all
known parameters, then coefficient of friction can be calculated. Thus equation (5) now becomes:
effpiston rpA
T
2

(6)
2.2 Brake disc thermal stresses
The brake disc and the pads are exposed to high thermal stresses due to high quantity of energy
transformed from mechanical to thermal. Thermal stress  is defined by the thermal strain generated by
temperature variation inside an object and due to exterior condition of having no possibility to contract or
expand [3]. Those stresses can be written as [3]:
)(
1


 
v
E
(7)
Where  - brake disc thermal expansion coefficient, a
, T- local disc temperature (real),
Ta – environment temperature, E – Young's modulus, v- Poisson coefficient. The values of  depends on
temperature, but in most cases is considered constant. From relation (7), it the dependence of thermal stress with
temperature and  coefficient can be observed.

64
III. EXPERIMENTAL WORK
The experimental work will be presented in three main sections. The first section contains the
description of the test rig. The second section the measurement instruments followed used in different tests and
data acquisition components [DAQ]. The third section comprises the different tests conducted on brake pads.
The details of each section is given below.
3.1 Test Rig
The test rig was designed and constructed to allows testing different types of pads and rotors at
different operation conditions. Fig. 2 shows a general layout of the test rig. The test rig consists of engine; spark
ignition, four stroke, and 4-cylinders in line 1. The engine equipped with clutch, manual gear box 2, flexible
joint 3, and drive shaft supported with four bearing on frame to drive flywheel and disc brake as shown in Fig. 3.
The rig uses actual brake system units and components to simulate the vehicle brake system. Brake pedal
equipped with electric motor and control unit to control pedal travel.
3.2 Measuring Instruments
The test rig is equipped with several measuring instruments, which are necessary for performing the
tests. The measuring instruments are shown in Fig. 4 include, pressure transducer, displacement sensor (position
sensor), speed sensors and non-contact infrared thermometer. All the transducer and sensors are interfaced with
a connector block through shielded cables. The connector block is connected to a DAQ board, (connect with
computer by USB cable) that collects the data during experimental test runs.
3.3 Experiments
The experimental research was carried out in the laboratory on disc brake dynamometer Fig. 3, in
a short time repeating braking regime. Two different shapes of pads were tested on disc brake dynamometer. Fig
5 shows two types of pads.
During the experiment the disc brake surface temperature, brake pressure, rotor velocity and braking time were
measured.
1- Engine 2- Manual gearbox 3- Flexible joint 4-Bearing 5-Flywheel
6-Coupling 7-Vented disc 8- Caliper 9-Spring 10- Brake master
11-Brake servo 12- Brake pedal 13- Brake pedal motor
14- Brake pedal motor control 15- RPM sensor 16-Displacement sensor
17-Pressure sensor 18-DCsupply 19- DAQ board
20- CPU
Fig. 2: Layout of test rig

65
1- Engine 2- Manual gearbox 3- Flexible joint 4-Bearing 5-Flywheel
6-Coupling 7-Vented disc 8- Caliper 9-Spring 10- Brake master
11-Brake servo 12- Brake pedal
Fig. 3: Test rig components
13- Brake pedal motor 14- Brake pedal motor control 15- RPM sensor
16-Displacement sensor 17-Pressure sensor 19- DAQ board 20- CPU
Fig. 4: Test rig measuring facilities
(a) Flat pad used in test (b) hatched pad used in test
Fig. 5: Shape of pads tested
fig. 6: Location of disc brake surface temperature measured
IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The evolutions of the temperature distribution on a disc brake contact surface during braking for
experimental as shown in Figs7 to 11 for both cases under different operating condition.
4.1 Effect of brake pedal travel
Figures from 7 to 8 show the experimental results of the relation between the disc speeds against the
measured temperature distribution on a disc brake contact surface in two cases.
Case I: Flat pads used in test
Case II: hatched pads used in test

66
Fig. 7 represents the temperature distribution on a disc brake contact surface in two cases of pads at
slow rate of pedal travel. Fig. 8 shows the effect of fast rate (sudden) of pedal travel.
The detailed analysis of the results revealed that the temperature distribution on a disc brake is greatly affected
by the type of brake pad shape, especially when using hatched pad. The temperature increases with the
beginning of the process of braking when Flat pad used in test.
The brake disc and the pads are exposed to high thermal stresses due to high quantity of energy transformed
from mechanical to thermal.
Thermal stress  is defined by the thermal strain generated by temperature variation inside an
object and due to exterior condition of having no possibility to contract or expand [3].
Braking performance of a vehicle can be significantly affected by the temperature rise in the brake components.
High temperatures during braking may cause brake fade, premature wear, and brake fluid vaporization, bearing
failure, thermal cracks and thermally-excited vibration. Therefore, it is important to predict the temperature rise
of a given brake system and assess its thermal performance in the early design stage.
The coefficient of friction would be changed under different braking operating conditions such as brake-line
pressure, disc speed, temperature and other factors
The coefficient of friction of the brake friction material will drop after prolonged use of the brakes. This is
commonly known as brake fade [13].
10 15 20 25 30 35 40
0
50
100
150
200
250
Speed (km/h)
Temperature(Celcius)
Temperature at t1 case(I)
Temperature at t1 case(II)
Fig. 7: Temperature Distribution at Slow Rate of Brake Pedal Travel on Disc Brake [Case I & Case II)
10 15 20 25 30 35 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Speed (km/h)
Temperature at t2 case(1)
Temperature at te case(II)
Fig. 8: Temperature distributions at slow rate of brake pedal travel on disc brake [case (I) & case (II)]
4.2 Effects of brake-line pressure and disc speed (operating conditions)
Figure 9 compares directly between the temperatures distributions on a disc brake contact surface at
brake line pressure 15, 30 bar and speed 10, 20, 30, 40 km/h, when hatched pad used in test. As indicated in this
figure changed according operating conditions such as brake-line pressure, disc speed.

67
10 15 20 25 30 35 40
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Speed (km/h)
Temperature at t1, pressure=15 bar
data3
Fig. 9: Temperature distributions at brake pressure 15, 30 bar on disc brake [case (II)]
Figures 7 to 9 show disc temperature surface variations along radial direction obtained with
experimental results. The change of temperature depends on disc geometry [14].
V. CONCULATION
1-The analysis of the laboratory results indicated that the temperature distribution on a disc brake is greatly
affected by the type of brake pads shapes.
2- The temperature generated depending on the operating conditions, rate of pedal brake travel and disc
geometry.
3- The test results also showed that the friction with hatched pad better fade resistance than the others
REFERENCES
[1]. Z. Chi, G. F. Naterer and Y. He, Thermal Performance Analysis of Vented Automotive Brake Discs,
CSME Forum 2008, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada, 2008.
[2]. A., M., Amin, S., M., Seri, V., R., Raghavan, Study Of The Temperature Distribution In Disc Brakes
By The Method Of Order-Of-Magnitude Analysis, Regional Conference on Engineering Mathematics,
Mechanics, Manufacturing & Architecture (EM3ARC) 2007.
[3]. Voldaca and Gheorghe, "Concerns Regarding Temperature Distribution Obtained by Experiments and
Finite Element Analyses for Two Types of Brake Discs" U.P.B Bull., Series D, Vol. 74, Iss. 3, 2012.
[4]. Feldmanis et al, "Mathematical Modeling of Disc Brake Friction Lining Heat and Wear", Jelgava, 29.-
30.05.2008.
[5]. Limpert, R., "Cooling Analysis of Disc Brake Rotors," SAE Technical Paper 751014, 1975. 668 842,
Sept. 16, 1997.
[6]. Kumar, R., "Transient Thermoelastic Analysis of Disk Brake Using Ansys Software", M. Sc. Thesis,
Mechanical Engineering Department, Thapar University, June, 2008.
[7]. Kang, J., & Choi, S., "Brake dynamometer model predicting brake torque variation due to disc
thickness variation", Proc. IMechE Vol. 221 Part D: J. Automobile Engineering, IMechE, 2007.
[8]. Pilipchuk, V. N.," Disc Brake Ring-Element Modeling Involving Friction-Induced Vibration "Journal
of Vibration and Control, Vol. 8, No. 8, 1085-1104, 2002.
[9]. Jalalifar Salman et al, "Analysis of heat conduction in a disk brake system" Journal of Heat and Mass
Transfer, Vol. 45, No. 8, January, 2009.
[10]. Day A.J., et al, "Investigation of disc/pad interface temperatures in friction braking", J. Wear, Vol 262,
PPs (505-513), February, 2007.
[11]. Kwangjin Lee, "Numerical Prediction of Brake Fluid Temperature Rise During Braking and Heat
Soaking", SAE, Technical Papers Series, 1999-01-0483.
[12]. K.Venkateswara Reddy & Rama Murthy," Temperature Profiles in a Disc Brake "Applications and
Applied Mathematics Journal, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 239-254. June, 2010.
[13]. Jang, H., et al," The Effect of Metal on The Friction Performance of Automotive Brake Friction
Materials" (ELSEVIER) Wear 256, pp. 406-414, 2004.
[14]. Murali Mohan Rao, et al, "Experimental and Simulated Studies on Temperature Distribution for
Various Disc Brakes" IJRMET Vol. 3, Issue 1, Nov-April, 2013.

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