Temperature during Repetitive Short-Term Operation of a Brake with Functionally Graded Friction Element

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Thermodynamics
• Mechanical Engineering

Background:

• Braking systems operating in repetitive short-term (RST) mode experience significant thermal loads.
• Understanding temperature distribution is crucial for predicting performance and material degradation.
• Functionally Gradient Materials (FGM) offer potential advantages in thermal management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the temperature dynamics of a braking system friction pair under RST conditions.
• To evaluate the impact of material thermal sensitivity and temperature-dependent friction coefficients on braking performance.
• To analyze the thermal behavior of a specific FGM (ZrO2-Ti-6Al-4V) paired with gray cast iron (ChNMKh).

Main Methods:

• Utilized an exact solution for the heat conduction boundary value problem, incorporating frictional heat generation.
• Developed a calculation scheme considering material thermal sensitivity and friction coefficient variations with temperature.
• Performed simulations for a two-component FGM (ZrO2-Ti-6Al-4V) against gray cast iron (ChNMKh).

Main Results:

• Material thermal sensitivity was found to reduce braking time and surface temperatures.
• The braking process demonstrated good stability across subsequent cycles.
• A slight decrease in efficiency was observed with each successive braking cycle.

Conclusions:

• Incorporating thermal sensitivity and variable friction coefficients provides a more accurate model for braking system temperature analysis.
• The studied FGM and cast iron pair exhibits stable performance under RST conditions.
• Further research could explore other FGM compositions and operating parameters.