Impact of Brake Pad Structure on Temperature and Stress Fields of Brake Disc

Utilizing ABAQUS finite element software, the study established the relationship between a brake pad structure and distributions of temperature and thermal stress on brake disc. By introducing radial structure factor and circular structure factor concepts, the research characterized the effect of friction block radial and circumferential arrangement on temperature field of the brake disc. A method was proposed for improving heat flow distribution of the brake disc through optimizing the position of the friction block of the brake pad. Structure optimization was conducted on brake pads composed of 5 or 7 circular friction blocks. The result shows that, with the same overall contact area of friction pair, an appropriate brake pad structure can make the friction energy distribute evenly and therefore lowers peak temperature and stress of the brake disc. Compared with a brake pad of 7 friction blocks, an optimized brake pad of 5 friction blocks lowered the peak temperature of the corresponding brake disc by 4.9% and reduced the highest stress by 10.7%.