Development of a lightweight brake disc rotor: a design approach for achieving an optimum thermal, vibration and weight balance

Critical performance requirements for a brake disc rotor include hear resistance, high cooling and low vibration. In trying to reduce the weight of the disc rotor, it is necessary to achieve a design with a good balance of performance capable of satisfying all of these requirements. This paper presents a parametric study that was conducted on the basis of an analysis of airflow through the ventilation holes as well as a thermal stress analysis and a vibration analysis during braking. Based on the relationships obtained between rotor weight, shape and each performance requirement, a method is presented for designing a lightweight disc rotor. (C) 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers of Japan, Inc. and Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.