Reducing disc brake squeal through FEM approach and experimental design technique

This paper presents a novel approach to understand the influencing factors of the brake pad on the disc brake squeal by integrating finite element simulations with statistical regression techniques. The complex eigenvalue analysis has been widely used to predict unstable frequencies in brake system models and to provide design guidance. The 'input-output' relationships between the brake squeal and the brake pad geometry is constructed for possible prediction of the squeal using various geometrical configurations of the disc brake. Influences of the various factors, namely back plate Young's modulus, back plate thickness, chamfer, distance between two slots, slots width and angle of slots, are investigated using design of experiments technique. The proposed approach is aimed towards prediction of optimal pad design to reduce the damping ratio of the dominant unstable modes through the various factors of the brake pad geometrical construction. The damping ratio is analysed and a non-linear mathematical prediction model is developed based on the most influencing factors.