Sensitivity study of the contact situation between the brake pad and the disc

The contact situation between the brake pad and the disc during the braking process is of particular importance concerning the squeal behavior of brake systems. After the braking process, the surface topography of brake pads can be measured using a confocal microscope. An algorithm to calculate the contact between two surfaces has been developed at the Institute of Dynamics and Vibrations. The algorithm calculates the deflection of asperities under a normal load regarding an elastic material behavior. A normal load is applied to a measured surface topography of the brake pad; the counter body (brake disc) is represented by a flat surface. The potential contact area, the locally distributed forces, deflections and normal stiffness of the pad are computed. Since there is an uncertainty in the relative position between the pad and the disc and hence the real contact situation during the braking process is not known, different contact situations must be considered during the simulations. Concerning various tilt angles of the pad that can arise during the vibrations of the brake system, a sensitivity study has been carried out. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)