Design and Analysis of Brake Disc Reinforcement with AA6061 Metal Matrix Composites: A Green Approach

Abstract

Disc brakes are now the favoured choice on two-wheelers, offering better control during braking application and higher reliability, especially in wet weather. The research considers the benefits of the light composite materials applied to create the disc brake applications with the overall objective of reducing weight. The brake disc is modelled using Catia V5 and analysed using ANSYS workbench. The static structural & thermal analysis is conducted to determine the firmness of the disc brake. In static structural analysis deformation, Von-Mises stress limit for the design are obtained. In thermal analysis, heat fluxes are computed by changing the two different materials of the disc. The results of the two different materials of the disc will be compared. Choosing cast iron as a brake disc material poses difficulties for the designer. The problem was identified as being overweight with gray cast iron discs. In the case of the same dimension of disc, if a gray cast disc weighs 500gm, an aluminium disc will weigh approximately 170gm. Thus, this work proves that there is a weight variation between the two materials. Another issue that has been also highlighted is corrosion; gray cast iron corrodes under humid conditions. Thus, the new materials being proposed which is aluminium-titanium carbide and have properties like or better than gray cast iron. Therefore, new material of higher thermal conductivity than gray cast iron to minimize temperature-induced stress.