Finite Element Analysis of Functionally

Graded Brake Disc

Alok Sasane1, Pradnya Kosbe2
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Savitribai Phule Pune University
JSPM’s JSCOE, Hadapsar, Pune, India
1
aloksasane1989@gmail.com
2
pradnyakosbe@gmail.com

 addition, repetitions of such actions will cause cracks to appear

Abstract – This article represents the study of functionally graded
material (FGM) as well as modelling and analysis of functionally
graded brake disk. Functionally Graded Material (FGM) belongs
to a class of composite material characterized by variation in
properties as the dimension varies. Finite element method is used
for coupled field analysis including static as well as thermal
analysis. The variation in properties are calculated by using
general power law. From the results of this study, at the end it was
concluded that FGM is the promising material for the disk brake
of car
Keywords—Brake disk, Functionally Graded Material, Finite
element method, composite material, thermo mechanical
on the friction surface. This may also lead to a variety of
performance related problems such as distortion and heat
cracking [5]. So to overcome on this problem it is required to
use alternative for existing material of brake disk. Typically,
FGM is made of a ceramic and a metal for the purpose of
thermal protection against large temperature gradients. The
ceramic material provides a high temperature resistance due to
its low thermal conductivity, while the ductile metal prevents
fracture due to its greater toughness [2]. In this study, on the
basis of application, among various types of FGM Al-SiC is
selected. Hence by doing this study it is found that FGM is the
perfect replacement for the grey cast iron.

I. INTRODUCTION II. HISTORY

Materials in which the volume fraction of two or more Functionally graded structures can be seen in nature, in bio-
materials is varied smoothly and continuously as a function of tissues of animals, such as bones and teeth, and plants [3]. For
position along certain dimension of the structure from one point example a tooth and more specific dental crowns are an
to the other are called functionally graded materials [2]. excellent example of the application of a FGM. It requires a
Functionally graded material having many advantages over the high wear resistance outside (enamel), and a ductile inner
conventional composite materials. In conventional composite structure for reasons of fatigue and brittleness. In the technical
material the properties are going to be change suddenly which world the concept of FGM was first developed in Japan in 1984
leads to delamination of layers in the material. FGM prevents during a project of space plane [3]. By using the combination
this type of phenomenon by changing a property smoothly of martial at that time it was possible to make capable a surface
along a particular dimension. Smoothly varying the material to withstand a high temperature of 2000 K and temperature
properties can maintain structural integrity to a desirable level. gradient of 1000 K across a 10 mm of thickness. There was no
Due to this property now a days FGM finds its application in uniform material able to endure such conditions. Therefore, the
various parts of automobile especially in brake disk. The researchers devised a concept to fabricate a material by
development of automobile brakes has come a long way since gradually changing (grading) the material composition (Figure
the crude brakes of horse drawn vehicles to the automobile 1), and in this way improve both thermal resistance and
brakes. Herbert Frood’s invention led to the modern-day mechanical properties
production of brake materials. Gray cast iron is the most
commonly used material in automobile brake rotors [4]. Due to
its low cost and relatively ease of manufacture in high volumes,
gray cast iron is a more specialized material for almost all the
automotive disc brakes. As braking system efficiency
improved, cars could go faster hence causing the disc operating
temperatures to increase as well. Due to the temperature
gradients generated from braking, the friction surface of the
disc brake undergoes compressive yield followed by plastic
deformation. When the disc brake subsequently cools down, it
suffers from residual tensile stress generated in these spots. In

1
 power law distribution [2]. Friction in between brake pad and
rotor is the main cause of heat source which leads to generate a
thermal stresses [3]. Thermal bending, body forces and friction
are considered on FG brake.
The property variation (P) of material along a radial
direction, can be calculated by using following form of power
law [2],
𝑟 − 𝑟𝑖 𝑛
𝑃(𝑟) = (𝑃𝑜 − 𝑃𝑖 ) ( ) + 𝑃𝑖
𝑟𝑜 − 𝑟𝑖
For example the assume form for modulus of elasticity (E) is
given as below,
𝑟 − 𝑟𝑖 𝑛
𝐸(𝑟) = (𝐸𝑜 − 𝐸𝑖 ) ( ) + 𝐸𝑖
𝑟𝑜 − 𝑟𝑖

IV. DETAILS ABOUT BRAKE DISK MODEL

The detail information about the brake disk model is as follows

1. Outer radius of rotor (ro) = 135 mm

2. Inner radius of rotor (ri) = 80 mm
Fig 1. Functionally graded thermal barrier coating 3. Material of rotor = aluminum silicate (Al-SiC)
4. Material of brake pad = aluminum (Al)
III. THEORY

Nomenclature -

E modulus of elasticity/Young’s modulus (GPa)

ρ Density (kg/m3)

υ Poisson’s Ratio

µ Coefficient of friction

K Thermal Conductivity (W/m°C)

c Specific heat (J/Kg.°C)

n Grading index

P material property Fig 2. Brake Disk Model

T temperature (°C) V. MATERIAL PROPERTIES
r related to the radial direction Property Unit Disc (Al-SiC) Pad (Al)
Young’s Modulus (E) GPa 192 70
Po Properties at outer surface
Poisson’s Ratio (υ) 0.242 0.3
Density (ρ) Kg/m3 3010 2700
Pi Properties at inner surface
Coefficient of friction 0.75 1.4
(µ)
ri Inner radius of brake disk (mm)
Thermal Conductivity W/m°C 180 209
ro Outer radius of brake disk (mm) (K)
Specific heat (c) J/Kg.°C 741 0.91
In FGM change in properties is function of a dimensions [2]. Table 1 Details of material properties
The material property of brake disk are represented by the
2
 VI. FINITE ELEMENT MODELLING in Fig 4. The disc is rigidly constrained at the bolt holes in all
Step involved in finite element modelling and analysis are as directions except in its rotational direction. Meanwhile, the pad
follows – is fixed at the abutment in all degrees of freedom except in the
1. Create 3D model of brake disk. normal direction to allow the pads move up and down and in
contact with the disc surface. The pressure of 1 MPa is applied
2. Import that model in Ansys workbench on the pad surface. The angular velocity of 50 rad/s is applied
to disc.
3. Geometry clean up To express the heat transfer in the disc brake model, thermal
boundary conditions and initial condition have to be defined.
4. Assign material properties As shown in Fig.5, at the interface between the disc and brake
pads, heat is generated due to sliding friction, which is shown
5. Apply mesh to the object as dashed lines. In the exposed region of the disc and brake
pads, it is assumed that heat is exchanged with the environment
6. Apply boundary conditions and loads through convection. Therefore, the convection surface
boundary condition is applied there.
7. Run the analysis

8. Analyze the results for deflection, stresses,

temperature variation

VII. MESHING AND BOUNDRY CONDITIONS

Meshing plays an important role in any analysis. Smoothness

of the mesh increases the precision of the result [1]. In this paper
to perform coupled field thermo mechanical analysis,
hexahedral element is preferred for meshing. Ansys V16 is used
to perform FEM analysis of brake disc. The mesh model of
brake disc is as shown in Fig.3. Details about FEM model is as
listed in Table 2
Fig. 4 Boundary Conditions and Loadings

Fig. 3 Mesh model of brake disc Fig. 5 Thermal Boundary Conditions

Disc Pad VIII. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Volume (m3) 6.2235e-004 m³ 3.0185e-005 m³
Mass (kg) 1.7861 kg The computer code ANSYS also allows determination and
4.2258e-002 kg
visualization of the structural deformations due to the sliding
Nodes 75378 1846 contact between the disc and the pads. The results of
Elements 21823 294 calculations of contact described in this section is related to the
Table 2 Details of FE model of brake disk displacements or the total deformation during the loading
sequence, the field of equivalent stresses Von Mises on the disc,
In this FE model, boundary conditions in embedded and the contact pressures of inner and outer pad.
configurations are imposed on the models (disc-pad) as shown
3
a) Disc-Pad Deformation
Fig. 6 shows disc deformations against braking time. It is noted
that the large deformation is always found at outer radius of the
disc that is the area in contact with the pad. From this figures it
can be seen that the highest deformation is 0.0198 mm for
AlSiC Disc.
Fig. 6 Result for deformation of disc
b) Stress Distribution in Pads
From Fig.7 it can be observed that the equivalent Von Mises
stress is distributed almost symmetrically between the leading
and trailing side of the pad. These stress distributions are barely
unchanged over braking time except the stress value. The
highest stress is predicted on the left side and the outer radius
of the pad whilst the lowest stress is located on the lower radius
of the pad and near the groove area. From this figures it can be
seen that the highest Stress is 2.5901 Pa for AlSiC Disc.
Fig. 7 Result for stress distribution
IX. CONCLUSION
In this work, a disc-pad model has been analyzed using FEM
approaches, namely mechanical and thermo-mechanical
analysis. From the prediction results it can be deduced that:
 Large deformations are occurred at the outer radius of
the disc.
 The presence of grooves in the pads influences
unfavorably the mechanical behavior of a brake.
 Use of FGM material will helpful to increase
mechanical as well as thermal strength of the disk over
the conventional one.
X. FUTURE SCOPE
With extension of this study it is planned to do analytical or
experimental validation for this analytical results
XI. REFERENCES
[1] A. Belhocine, O.I.Abdullah. (2014). Finite Element Analysis of
Automotive Disc Brake and Pad in Frictional Model Contact. Journal of
Advanced Design and Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 7/ No. 4/
December - 2014
[2] M.M. Shahzamanian, B.B. Sahari, M. Bayat, F. Mustapha, Z.N.
Ismarrubie. (2010). Finite element analysis of thermo elastic contact
problem in functionally graded axisymmetric brake disks. Journal of
Composite Structures 92 (2010) 1591–1602
Available: http:// www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct
[3] G.E. Knoppers, J.W. Gunnink, J. van den Hout, W.P. van Vliet
The Reality of Functionally Graded Material Products
[4] Swapnil R. Abhang, D.P.Bhaskar. (2014) Design and Analysis of Disc
Brake. International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology
(IJETT) – Volume 8 Number 4- Feb 2014
Available:http://www.ijettjournal.org
[5] Manjunath T V, Dr Suresh P M, (December 2013). Structural and
Thermal Analysis of Rotor Disc of Disc Brake. International Journal of
Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology (An ISO
3297: 2007 Certified Organization) Vol. 2, Issue 12, December 2013
Available:http:// www.ijirset.com