Simulation of Energy Dissipation and Heat Transfers of a Braking System Using the Discrete Element Method: Role of Roughness and Granular Plateaus

The objective of this study focuses on the energy dissipation by friction on the interface of a braking system and the effects of roughness and granular plateaus on heat propagation. Faced with the difficulty of defining velocity accommodation and thermal partition between the two bodies in contact (disk and pad, for example,), the authors model the third body (friction) layer with circular particles detached from the pad. From a numerical point of view, this paper proposes a strategy of storing mechanical calculations in steady-state and using it for successive thermal processing in discrete element method (DEM) code. Thus, the heat is generated due to interparticle friction and is dissipated in the disk/pad interface by conductance. Accordingly, this coupling micro–macro model aims to determine the temperature rise of the pad/disk interface and to identify the equivalent thermal resistance. In line with that, the authors provide discussions of these parameters compared to experimental/empirical data as reported in the literature review and limitations of the model.