BRAKE DISC DESIGN AND THERMAL AND

STRESS ANALYSIS FOR OPTIMUM HOLES

POSITIONING
A MINOR PROJECT REPORT
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD
OF THE DEGREE OF

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
(Automotive Engineering)

SUBMITTED TO
DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, DELHI
SUBMITTED BY
Ananya Bhardwaj
Ashwani Saini
Chanchal Krishna

2K12/AE/010
2K12/AE/018
2K12/AE/026

SUPERVISED BY
Dr. VIJAY GAUTAM
ASST. PROFESSOR, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

May 2015

DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY, DELHI

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the thesis entitled BRAKE DISK DESIGN AND THERMAL AND
STRESS ANALYSIS FOR OPTIMUM HOLES POSITIONING submitted by Ananya
Bhardwaj, Ashwani Saini, and Chanchal Krishna in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
award of Bachelor of Technology Degree in Automotive Engineering from Delhi Technological
University (Formerly Delhi College of Engineering) for their Minor Project in the Sixth
Semester is an authentic work carried out by them under my supervision & guidance.

Dr. VIJAY GAUTAM

Asst. Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Delhi Technological University

DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

DECLARATION
We hereby declare that the work which is being presented in the B.Tech Minor Project Report
entitled BRAKE DISK DESIGN AND THERMAL AND STRESS ANALYSIS FOR
OPTIMUM HOLES POSITIONING, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
award of the Bachelor of Technology in Automotive Engineering and submitted to the
Department of Information Technology of Delhi Technological University, Delhi is an
authentic record of our own work carried out during a period of 6 th semester under the
supervision of Dr. Vijay Gautam, Mechanical Engineering Department.
The matter presented in this Project Report has not been submitted by us for the award of any
other degree elsewhere.
Signature of students

(2K12/AE/010)

(2K12/AE/018)

(2K12/AE/026)

This is to certify that the above statement made by the student(s) is correct to the best of my
knowledge.

Dr. VIJAY GAUTAM

Asst. Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Delhi Technological University
DELHI TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to place on record my deep sense of gratitude to our mentor and advisor Dr. Vijay
Gautam, Asst Professor, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi
for his patience, generous guidance, help, useful suggestions, continuous encouragement
throughout the course of present work and for enlightening me with his immense knowledge of
the subject. His cooperation and support during the whole research process was one of the main
reasons we could complete this thesis with a satisfactory conclusion. I also wish to extend our
thanks of the staff of the Mechanical Dept. and other colleagues for their insightful comments
and constructive suggestions to improve the quality of this project work.

Ananya Bhardwaj
Ashwani Saini
Chanchal Krishna

2K12/AE/010
2K12/AE/018
2K12/AE/026

CONTENTS1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION
CALCULATIONS
INITIAL MATERIAL SELECTION
THERMAL ANALYSIS
COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT PLACEMENTS
CONCLUSIONS
REFERENCES

1.ABSTRACT
5

Brake Disc Design and Analysis for ideal holes positioning is a project through which we
have aimed to achieve an understanding and learning of development of a product
straight from its conception to manufacturing, encompassing all the stages such as
Initial Calculations, Designing, Material Selection and Manufacturing considerations.
Brake disc is an essential component of almost every Automobile, and its applications
are endless. We aim to provide a refined solution or a model of working to select
various brake disc parameters as well as materials depending on the use, and also
Analyze the thermal loads using CAD software (solidworks) to estimate the
temperatures achieved during the braking process and optimize the heat reduction and
correct material selection. We aim to optimize the holes placement testing for options of
radially inwards, radially outwards and comparison of few large sized holes vs many
small sized ones.

2.INTRODUCTION
In our project weve looked to replicate the complete professional design and
manufacturing process.
So weve divided the project into 6 major categories

Basic Framework and Application selection

In this part, weve selected a test case of a Formula Student Car, an open
wheeled formula style race-car which weighs 300KG with the driver and has a
strictly mechanical and hydraulic system, with no hydraulic or electric boosters

Brake Calculations
To find the required braking torque on wheels, to calculate all the forces involved
from the force applied at the pedal to the force exerted by the pads, the pressure
in the brake lines for correctly selecting components such as the piston diameter
of the master cylinders and the calipers, and the diameter of the discs

Study of requirements from material

This involves basic study of the requirements of the material due to the various
loads and temperature changes on the brake disc during its use

Initial Material Options

We consider the widely used materials generally used in this application
Carbon Ceramics
Stainless Steels
Aluminum Matrix
Cast Iron

Thermal Analysis using Solidworks

We test on solidworks for different materials using a thermal loads, and check for the
material which gives the most optimum output. (Least peak temperature)

Comparison of Different hole positions

We compared four configurations of hole positions for thermal analysis such that
we tested for the maximum temperatures and also maximum stresses for same
physical and thermal loads

3.BRAKE CALCULATIONS

BRAKE CALCULATIONS DATA

Assumed Wheelbase = 1550mm
Assumed Height of CG of car= 250mm
Static load distribution = 50:50
Weight of Vehicle = 300kg
Coefficient of Friction at tire-ground interface u = 1.6
Selected wheels and tires = 13inch rims and 260mm tire radius
At maximum deceleration of 1.6g the dynamic weight distribution is found to
=210:90kg= 70:30 weight distribution
Disk Selected= 220mm on front and 200mm on rear
Assumed Brake Pad size= 3.875 cm height, 4cm width.
Most calculations done are shown in the excel file attached

SCREENSHOT OF BRAKE CALCULATIONS MICROSOFT EXCEL FILE

 From the calculations, Pressure on Disc part between pads

found is 5.63 x 106 N/m2
Brake Torque on the front disc was found through calculations
to be 350 N.m

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4.INITIAL MATERIAL SELECTION

THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF THE BRAKE DISC MATERIAL
ARE
1 Hardness- A brake disc is generally expected to have high hardness for
slower wear rates. The hardness generally required is about 32-38 HRC
(Rockwell hardness)
2 Temper Softening- As in braking applications the temperature reached
are often as high as 400 degrees temper softening( a property of a metal to
soften due to tempering and subsequent change in its microstructure at
those temperatures) might lead to warping and deformation of disc under
the physical loads.
3 Strength- The strength of the material should be high to withstand the
loads and this is measured in terms of its yield/compressive strength
4 Fatigue Strength- As it is a component that is supposed to work for a
long time of application depending on the use, its expected to work without
failure for large number of cycles. This is measured in terms of creep
strength
5 High Temperature Surface Oxidation
At high surface temperatures, the reactivity of materials increases
significantly, so they get oxidized and that leads to change in surface
properties and deviation from ideal braking performance. So the selected
material should maintain low reactivity at elevated temperatures
6 Thermally induced fracture-

11

In Disk brakes heat generated by friction are very high and disks can fail
due to thermally induced fracture, so the ability to dissipate heat quickly is
essential to avoid fracture.
OTHER IDEAL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
High Conductivity- As surface temperatures run high in brake disc
applications , for even distribution of temperature which will lead to even
wear, similar behavior and less chances of warping.
High Thermal Diffusivity
GENERAL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF COMMON STAINLESS
STEELS

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 CARBON CERAMIC ROTORS

Type
C/C-SiC is a Carbon fiber phase added to a Silicon Carbide matrix. The resulting
material has increased strength with a lower density and high tribological
characteristics. The most predominant feature is its ability to withstand high
temperatures without failure. Due to its low coefficient of thermal expansion and
high thermal conductivity, this CMC can retain its strength at high temperature.
This CMC was manufactured as a disc brake with 2D reinforced discontinuous
fibers. The fibers are placed perpendicular to the surface of friction to maximize
Thermal conductivity. The result is a disc brake that can withstand surfaces
temperatures of 1000 C with minimal wear.

Problems
CMC disc brakes are not widely used among regular cars. This is due to multiple
reasons. Firstly since there is low demand for high performance brakes, these
disc brakes are very expensive. The cost of raw material isnt hugely expensive
and is expected to reduce as CMCs gain popularity. In the case of regular cars
that arent used at high speeds the amount of heat generated with low friction is
small. Carbon Silicon Carbide brakes become inefficient and much weaker if
used in cold conditions. The weakness is a result of thermal expansion of the
composite and ceramic matrix. As the material expands at different rates under
different temperatures cracking can occur on the surface

Improvements
To improve this technology tests were conducted to achieve higher surface
temperatures. It was found that with this ceramic composite certain areas
wouldnt dissipate heat resulting in hot spots. This is due to the materials ability
to conduct heat in axial and transverse directions. Since the fibers are placed
perpendicular to the friction surface they are unable to transfer heat in other
directions. The simplest solution is to make the material with a higher ceramic
content. This sacrifices the strength of the brake and while adding excess mass,
since the density of ceramic is far greater than the composite fiber. Another
solution is to use a more thermally conductive fiber in the ceramic matrix. This
results in a higher cost of production but higher performance product.

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ALUMINIUM MATRIX COMPOSITES

ALUMINIUM MATRIX
In automotive application, brake rotors have been held up as an example where
MMCs make a difference. In terms of weight, MMC rotor designs provide up to a
60%reduction when compared to cast iron. In addition, aluminum MMC rotors
outperformtheir iron counterparts in terms of their mechanical properties and practical
use.
In a comparison of an aluminum MMC brake rotor vs. an iron brake rotor, the iron
component will be the higher value in terms of purchase price, post-purchase
processing and maintainability, but the MMC component wins out in terms of
performance, marketability and maintainability.
Specifically, the wear resistance and high thermal conductivity of aluminum MMCs
enable substitution in disk brake rotors, with an attendant weight savings on the order of
50 to 60%. Because the weight reduction is unsprung, it also reduces inertial forces,
providing an additional benefit in fuel economy. In addition, lightweight MMC rotors
provide increased acceleration and reduced braking distance. It is reported that, based
on brake dynamometer testing, MMC rotors reduce brake noise and wear, and have
more uniform friction over the entire testing sequence compared to cast iron rotors. The
advantages of metal matrix composite over metals and other composites AMC discs
show lower friction coefficients and higher wear rates than classical steel discs. By
increasing the reinforcement rate upto 8 weight percentage angular SiC, the disc
exhibited a low wear rate, particularly at high braking power and a relatively high friction
coefficient because of high angular SiC content with same SiCcontent, the spherical SiC
reinforced disc exhibited a lower friction coefficient due to spherical SiC reinforced disc
exhibited a lower friction coefficient due to spherical morphology resulting in a sliding
contact instead of ploughing one The thermal conductivity of AMC can be two or three
times higher than cast iron.
An MMC disc could be 60 % lighter than an equivalent cast iron component.
The Thermal Diffusivity, which is the rate of heat dissipation compared to that of
storage, is four times that of cast
It is particularly difficult to manufacture and also has very high costs so it remains to
have a limited use.

14

STEEL AND CAST IRON ROTORS

Disc brakesW are typically made out of grey cast iron. This material is has high tensile
strength and can withstand a high temperature before failing. In high performance
vehicles the amount of heat generated by friction when braking can be too great so the
brakes fail or must be changed often. The failure is due to thermally induced fractures.
Also these brakes can be heavy and susceptible to corrosion, which cause failure.
Other composites have been tested such as Metal Matrix Composite, and Carbon
Carbon Composites. The challenges with these materials are the ability to dissipate
heat caused by friction isnt optimal at high enough temperatures. A typical grey cast
iron disc brake can withstand a surface heat of 400 C before failure occurs

STEEL VS CAST IRON

Both cast iron and stainless steels are extensively used in the automobiles as
brake rotors
Cast iron has greater strength than steel and also provides a greater coefficient
of friction
But cast iron has poor high temperature oxidation and corrosion resistance
properties, hence it is being replaced by stainless steels
Stainless steels provide a greater coefficient of friction when used with high
performance brake pads such as sintered bronze pads or any other metallic
pads.

GRADES USED IN INDUSTRY

Mainly martensitic steels with grades 403, 410 and 420 are used, known as 13% Cr
steels.
Stability is a crucial factor as the properties of the material shouldnt change with use
*Adding Cu to the steel increases the possibility of faster cooling rates during hardening
of discs, which is restricted due to change in flatness due to faster cooling methods(0.5
to 2.5%)
Mo is added to increase corrosion resistance but its an expensive alternative
Well compare few Grades such as Austenitic vs Martensitic (Series 3XX vs 4XX)

15

AUSTENITIC STEEL GRADES

MARTENSITIC STAINLESS STEELS

16

COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT MARTENSITIC GRADES

17

5.THERMAL ANALYSIS OF BRAKE DISC

18

Thermal Analysis Logic

As on braking all the kinetic energy is converted into heat energy- which is generated at
the brake pad-disc interface we will distribute this as heat power supplied at the disc
pad interface.
Well determine kinetic energy by assuming a given speed, lets say 25m/s to be brought
to a complete stop given by 0.5*mass*velocity^2.. The max coefficient of friction would
provide us with the stopping time, so wed know how the power is distributed over time.
Wed analyze the disk under this heat power provided as a flux only for the while the
brakes are applied, and convection throughout the rest of the disk surface so it is
simultaneously also cooling reflecting a real scenario. Initial temperature is assumed to
be same as the surroundings
The solidworks simulation is prepared and will be shown separately.
Bulk Ambient temp 293K
Convection Coefficient is 90W/m^2K for all faces
From thermal loads temperature is selected to initial temp of 25celcius

19

20

Thermal Boundary Conditions

21

SolidWorks Simulation solves for the temperature distribution in the solid using the
conduction equations and boundary conditions applied to the boundaries of the model.
SolidWorks Simulation has several thermal boundary conditions that can be applied to
thermal studies.
1) Temperature Allows for the definition of a temperature on a certain entity or body.
2) Convection applies a convection boundary condition to the selected faces. The
convection coefficient and ambient temperature are specified and the heat lost
due to convection is calculated automatically.
3) Heat Flux Applies some amount of heat into a face per unit area.
4) Heat Power Applies some amount of heat to a vertex, edge, face or component.
5) Radiation Allows surface-to-surface or surface-to-ambient radiation. In our
model, we will apply convection to all faces because all of the faces will be
exposed to the air. In addition, we will apply a heat power to the faces that the
brake pads touch.
Convection is the transfer of thermal energy between a surface and a fluid. The amount
of heat transferred through conduction is proportional to the convection coefficient, h,
the surface area, A, and the temperature difference between the surface and the
surrounding fluid.
We will assume a convection coefficient of 90 W/m^2.K and an ambient temperature of
20C, which are approximations. Actual convection coefficients and ambient
temperature could be computed by running a CFD analysis in SolidWorks Flow
Simulation or from experiments.

Heat Power
As the vehicle is braked, the rotor is spinning and the brake pads are rubbing against
the surface of the rotor, creating friction and heat energy. Much of the kinetic energy of
the car is being transferred to thermal energy through the brake pads. The heat power
will be applied to the brake rotors in the area that the pads touch. The amount of heat
power can be calculated from the amount of kinetic energy carried by the car. If we
assume the mass of the car is 275 kg and the car is travelling at 25 m/s, the kinetic
energy of the car is as follows:
If we assume all of that kinetic energy is transferred to thermal energy during braking
that lasts 3seconds, we can calculate the heat power.
Since we will analyze only one pad, and about 60% of the mass of the vehicle will be on
the front, the heat power is reduced.

22

The dynamic load analysis is also done by applying pressure on the disc in the part in
contact with brake pad.
Simultaneously the stresses due to thermal loads are also applied such that the
combined result is shown in the simulation.

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/research/reports/fullreports/434.1.pdf

23

6. COMPARISON OF DIFFERENT HOLE PLACEMENTS

TEST CONDITIONS
The test conditions which were applied for the Analysis were same for all four
test cases

Thermal Analysis
Transient Analysis of a stop of 3 seconds.
Convection is applied on all faces for all tests for the whole duration of three
seconds.
The ambient temperature is set at 293K
The Heat Power is set at 15000W for 1 second applied for a duration of 3
seconds.
The convection coefficient is set at 85W/(m^2 K)

Blank Disc Design

CASE 124

Small large number of holes

The number of holes has been kept 48, the radius of each hole is 3.53mm such
that the total volume removed is same as for that of the big holes configuration
with 24 holes of 5mm radius each.
The Screenshots of the Analysis are-

The Max temperature reached was 415K for the test.

CASE 2Small number of large holes

25

The number of holes is set at 24, each hole being 5mm in radius.
As this was the first iteration we did weve also attached the mesh detail
screenshots.

Heat Power and Mesh

Convection

26

The result shows a maximum temperature shows that the maximum temperature
is 383K.

CONCLUSION 1
The maximum temperatures achieved for two brake discs having the
same volume hence the same weight shows that the one with larger
holes dissipates heat better reaching a lower temperature despite
having a lesser area for convection.

CASE 327

Radially Outward Holes

The test cases 3 and 4 compare same sized (4mm radius) and same number of
holes (24) for two configurations to see which dissipates heat better.
The holes are pushed out radially 10 mm compared to the other configuration.

The maximum temperature achieved was 496K.

Case 4Radially inward holes28

This test case has 24 holes each of 4mm radius.

The maximum temperature achieved was 506K.

CONCLUSION 2The maximum temperatures achieved for two brake discs having the
same volume hence the same weight shows that the one with radially
outward holes reaches a relatively lower temperature thus it
dissipates heat better.

STRESS ANALYSIS OF DIFFERENT CONFIGURATIONS

Test Conditions29

The fixtures were applied at the disc bobbin interface as a fixed

geometry.
A split line replicating the brake pad face was made for application of
forces through that area.
A normal force of 5000N on each face was applied.
A total torque for both faces combined was applied at 345 N.m.
Screenshot of result on Radially Inward test case-

30

Screenshot of torque applied

Comparing different results we found that due to our current design and
specifications the differences in maximum stresses generated were insignificant
from the point of view of failure as the weakest part was the mount of the brake
disc.
However the disc with larger holes had curves of greater radius of curvature and
hence lesser stress concentration. So there was a lesser value of stress
developed in case 2 as compared to case 1
Case 1 offered a more favorable deflection value due to more cross section area
available in the direction of the torque.
Hence the final design to be chosen is the one with larger holes in all cases
except where deflection needs to be minimized.

7.CONCLUSIONS
31

Producing a high performance vehicle one must consider the components, the materials
used and the purpose of the vehicle. The disc brakes on a racecar emphasize different
properties than a motorcycle, or airplane. A racecar would be focused on high thermal
resistance since there is a great amount of friction compared to a motorcycle would
focus in weight reduction since it doesnt produce as much heat. For optimal
performance and efficiency there must be a balance of mechanical properties of the
material used, its performance and cost. In a racecar like the one selected for our
project, the performance benefit due to using carbon ceramic discs does not justify its
cost, also the heat generated is not enough for a significant advantage. Aluminium
matrix provide insufficient friction coefficient, and their weight advantage is nullified due
to need of a larger caliper. Hence our choice would be to use a martensitic steel which
can provide good performance (coefficient of friction and heat dissipation).
Some specialized grades from researches have been studied, their large scale
manufacturing possibility holds the key to their use.

From the view of positioning the holes- there has been an ideal result found- which is
making holes larger and pushing them radially outwards- This allows quicker heat
dissipation, less stress concentration, less rotational inertia due to removal of material
from radially far positions- which leads to greater acceleration

32

FUTURE

TARGETS

Other than the work already done our other targets for the
current and future projects are

We have gone through a number of research papers on the

Ideal brake disc materials, its something we aim to exploit.

We have scouted for various active temperature sensing and

data logging units, Id
attached a few pdfs of some
products along by motec and texense. We have purchased a
TC Direct rubbing type thermocouple sensor which we will
test on the universitys formula student racecar.
We had stumbled upon some research on using a closer to
real value of convection through a CFD simulation of air
around the brake disc. Im personally in contact with
totalsim.co.uk. It would lead to a closer value of the
convection coefficient that would result in a more accurate
result
Well aim at optimizing weight and convection rates through
iterations of simulations using different designs adding ribs
or holes, varying them in number and diameter to reach an
optimum solution for the selected test vehicle

8.REFERENCES
[1] Dr. Vijay Gautam, Asst. Professor Delhi Technological University.
[2] EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION Application number: 01308823.2
[3] Brake Safety and design Rudolph Limpert
[4]FLOQUET, A. AND DUBOURG, M.-C. Non axis symmetric effects for three
dimensional Analyses of a Brake, ASME J. Tribology, vol. 116, page 401-407, (1994).
33

[5] TalatiaFaramarz and Jalalifar S, (2000) Analysis of heat conduction in a disk brake
system. J Heat Mass Transfer 45 : 1047-1059.
[6] Yoshioka, K.; Suzuki, S.; Ishida, F.; Horiuchi, M.; Kobayashi, K. Kawasaki Steel
Giho. 1983, vol. 15, no. 4, p. 266272.
[7] 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
[8] Aero-thermal Characteristics of an Automotive CCM Vented Brake Disc, SAE 200539-0930

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