Third Body Influence on Thermal Friction Contact Problems: Application to Braking

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the temperature and the heat distribution into the two components of a disc brake system by combining macroscopic and microscopic effects. The major difficulty of the thermal problem is to determine how the heat is generated and how it is distributed in the two components in contact during transient state. Contrary to classical approaches assuming equal temperature at the contact surfaces, a contact interface is introduced in the model as a thin layer of third body with uniform volumic heat generation. This micro-macro model gives original indications on the temperatures near the contact surfaces, on the thermal gradients between the two components and on the heat partition between the two bodies during the braking time. Comparison with classical thermal models is discussed.