Simulation of thermal and mechanical performance of laser cladded disc brake rotors

Abstract

Disc brakes wear during braking events and release airborne particulates. These particle emissions are currently one of the highest contributors to non-exhaust particle emissions and introduce health hazards as well as environmental contamination. To reduce this problem, wear and corrosion-resistant disc coatings have been implemented on grey cast iron brake disc rotors by using various deposition techniques such as thermal spraying and overlay welding. High thermal gradients during braking introduce risks of flaking off and cracking of thermally sprayed coatings with adhesive bonding to the substrate. Overlay welding by laser cladding offers metallurgical bonding of the coating to the substrate and other benefits that motivate laser cladding as a candidate for the coating of the grey cast iron brake discs. This study aims to investigate the effect of laser cladding on the thermal and thermo-structural performance of the coated grey cast iron brake discs. Therefore, thermal and thermo-stress analysis with COMSOL Multiphysics 5.6 software is performed on braking events of grey cast iron brake discs as non-coated – reference and laser cladding coated with stainless steel welding consumables. The Results demonstrated that surface temperatures were more localised, overall higher in the laser cladded coating with over three times the stresses attained of reference grey cast iron discs. The output of the simulations has been compared by tests found in the literature. Laser cladding presented higher reliability and braking performance, nonetheless requiring the evaluation of its thermal impact on other system components.

Review of the coatings used for brake discs regarding their wear resistance and environmental effect

“…It can be observed that wear loss of both discs decreases with the temperature increased. Athanassiou et al 135 using FEA (finite element analysis) and using computer software simulated and analysed the thermal and mechanical performance of a cast iron laser hardfaced disc. The performance of a grey cast iron disc is compared to that of a non-hardfaced disc.…”

Numerical simulation and experimental study on pitting damage of IN625 laser cladding layer

“…In 2022, Vasiljevic ́et al 16 analyzed and reviewed the different deposition techniques and materials used for brake disc coating and its effect on the wear rate of friction subsets. In 2022, Athanassiou et al 17 studied the effect of laser melting of stainless steel on the thermal and thermal structural properties of gray cast iron brake discs. The results show that laser cladding provides higher wear and corrosion resistance, as well as reliability and braking performance.…”

Influence of the metal coating on nano-cutting process of cubic silicon carbide

“…Among them, molecular dynamics simulation (MDS) is widely for difficult-to-process materials like SiC, silicon, and metallic glass. [11][12][13][14][15] MDS is a new interdisciplinary subject, which includes physics, chemistry, material science, and mechanics. The research objects are microstructures including phase transition, dislocation, grain boundary, and micro crack.…”