Model Gallery

Model ID: 102

Heat Transfer in a Brake Disc of a Car

This example models the transient heating, and final temperature, of a disk brake of a car in brake-and-release sequence. It is important to model the transient heating and the following convective cooling to determine the minimum interval between a series of similar brake engagements. If the cooling is insufficient the disc will overheat resulting in brake failure.

The model uses the General Heat Transfer application mode in 3D and simulates the transient heat production, dissipation and transfer within the disc as it rotates slower and slower. The maximum temperature is reached after approximately 2/3 of the brake engagement time. The results show that the cooling time between similar brake engagements needs to be in the range of 100 seconds to achieve sufficient cooling.

Surface plot showing the temperature distribution on the disc.

• Click here to get more information about this model