Simulation of wear and contact pressure distribution at the pad-to-rotor interface in a disc brake using general purpose finite element analysis software

Passenger car disc brakes are safety-critical components whose performance depends strongly on contact conditions at the pad-to-rotor interface. The interface can be classified as a conformal dry sliding contact. During braking both brake pad and rotor surfaces are worn, affecting the useful life of the brake as well as its behavior. This paper discusses how wear of the pad-to-rotor interface can be predicted using general purpose finite element analysis software. A three-dimensional finite element model of the brake pad and the rotor is developed to calculate the pressure distribution in the pad-to-rotor contact. A wear simulation procedure based on a generalized form of Archard's wear law and explicit Euler integration is used to simulate the wear of the brake pad under steady-state drag conditions.