THERMAL AND MECHANICAL ANALYSIS OF A.A. LRT BRAKE DISC FROM COMPOSITE MATERIAL BY FEM

The modeling of thermal and mechanical effects during braking has become increasingly
important in product design in different transport means, road vehicles, airplanes, railway
vehicles, and so forth. The thermal and mechanical analysis is a very important stage in the
study of braking systems, especially of railway vehicles where it is necessary to brake huge
masses because the thermal load of a braked railway disc prevails compared to other types of
loads. In the braking phase, kinetic energy transforms into thermal energy resulting in intense
heating and high temperature states of railway discs. Thus induced thermal loads determine
thermo-mechanical behavior of the structure of railway discs. In cases of thermal overloads,
which mainly occur as a result of long term braking on down grade railroads and braking to
standstill on a flat railroad, the generation of stresses and deformations occurs whose
consequences are the appearance of cracks on the discs, brake judder, thermo-elastic
instability and finally brake disc failure. The importance to precisely determine the
temperature distribution caused by the transfer process of the heat generated during braking
due to the friction on contact surfaces of the braking system makes it a challenging research
task.