A Simulation Based Approach to Model Design Influence on the Fatigue Life of a Vented Brake Disc

The brake disc is considered a safety critical components in vehicles, hence the growing concern on its service life performance. Brake disc performance is measured by several criteria of which prominent amongst these criteria is fatigue life and disc thermal deflection. This study considers the influence of geometric design features of a vented brake disc on its fatigue life at particular sections of the brake disc which are considered critical and its deflection due to thermal inputs. A parametric study is carried out with CAE/FEA using Taguchi design of experiment. The study identified the geometric design features that significantly influence the studied performance measures. Sensitivity plots were also obtained to show the manner these design factors affect the fatigue life at these points as well as the disc thermal deflection. Two design features, the inboard plate thickness and the length of the effective offset are observed to contribute majorly to the fatigue life of the brake disc as well as its thermal deflection. Hence, design effort should be concentrated on these features for optimal fatigue life design at these points of interest in this study.