Disc Brake Particulate Enclosure With Active Cooling Airflow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional particulate collection systems for disc brake assemblies are inefficient at high speeds due to air movement, which causes particulates to be lost before they can be collected, and risk overheating the brake components by restricting their cooling mechanism.
Innovation Solution
A disc brake assembly particulate collection system that includes a vessel surrounding the brake assembly with a first fan to introduce air and a second fan to draw it out, using bladeless fans and compressors to enhance airflow and maintain cooling, while a blade adjacent to the brake disc removes the boundary layer to improve heat transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a fan is used to suck air-borne particulates from around disc brake assemblies, then particulate collection is achieved, but at high speeds air movement causes particulates to be lost before collection
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by introducing air into the vessel before the brake assembly operates at high speed. This pre-established air flow environment ensures that particulates are immediately captured and contained within the vessel rather than being lost to the surrounding environment, thus resolving the contradiction between collection efficiency and particulate loss at high speeds.
Solution Approach 2:
The vessel acts as an intermediary between the brake assembly and the external environment. By containing the brake assembly within the vessel and controlling air flow through inlet and outlet fans, the system mediates the interaction between moving air and particulates, preventing particulate loss while maintaining collection efficiency even at high vehicle speeds.
2Loss of substance
If a vessel surrounds the brake assembly to prevent particulate loss, then particulate containment is improved, but the brake assembly risks overheating due to restricted cooling
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamic air flow control through the vessel's inlet and outlet fans. The air flow rate and direction are continuously adjusted to simultaneously achieve particulate containment and adequate cooling of the brake assembly. This dynamic adjustment resolves the contradiction by allowing the vessel to perform both containment and cooling functions without compromising either objective.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the parameters of air flow (velocity, direction, volume) passing through the vessel to optimize both particulate containment and heat dissipation. By controlling the air flow parameters, the system ensures that sufficient air reaches the brake assembly for cooling while particulates remain contained within the vessel, thus resolving the temperature containment contradiction.
3Loss of substance
If air flow is restricted to contain particulates, then particulate loss is reduced, but heat dissipation from the brake assembly is impaired
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the air flow path into distinct zones within the vessel: a containment zone that captures particulates and a cooling zone that facilitates heat dissipation. By segmenting the air flow function, the system can simultaneously reduce particulate loss and maintain effective heat dissipation, as the same air stream performs both containment and cooling roles in different spatial regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The air flow system is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: it contains particulates within the vessel, cools the brake assembly through convection, and maintains operational temperature within the optimal window. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by making the air flow system universally effective for both particulate loss reduction and heat dissipation.
4Speed
If the brake disc rotates at high speed, then braking performance is maintained, but a boundary layer forms that limits cooling efficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces controlled air flow disturbances and turbulence through the vessel's inlet fans, which mechanically disrupt the boundary layer that forms on the rotating brake disc. This mechanical disruption enhances heat transfer between the disc surface and the cooling air, resolving the contradiction between maintaining high rotation speed and preserving cooling efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the flow parameters of the cooling air (increasing velocity, creating turbulence) to penetrate and disrupt the boundary layer formed by the rotating brake disc. By adjusting these air flow parameters, the system maintains effective heat transfer even at high disc rotation speeds, thus resolving the speed-cooling efficiency contradiction.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Effectively collects particulates and maintains optimal cooling of the brake assembly by preventing particulate loss and ensuring efficient heat dissipation, reducing the risk of overheating and degradation of brake components.
Implementation Method 1
a first fan configured to introduce air into the vessel via the inlet
Implementation Method 2
a second fan configured to draw air out of the vessel via the outlet
Implementation Method 3
The heat energy is rejected over a period of time into the atmosphere by convection, via flow of air across an exposed surface of the core disc material
Implementation Method 4
Metal brake discs, such as those made from iron or steel, absorb heat energy by conduction into a core disc material
Implementation Method 5
rotation of the brake disc may cause a boundary layer to form adjacent to the surface of the disc. A boundary layer is a layer of substantially stationary air immediately surrounding a moving object
Data Source
AI summary
In vehicles moving at relatively high speed, air movement around a brake assembly makes it very difficult to collect particulate matter created during braking. To surround such disc brake assemblies with a vessel to prevent the particulates from being lost would risk overheating of the disc brakes, by virtue of their primary means of cooling being prevented; namely the passage of air thereover. A first fan 11 introduces air into the vessel 7 and a second fan 15 draws air out of the vessel 7. In this way, a first fan 11 may actively introduce air into a vessel 7 surrounding the disc brake assembly 1,5 to replace that air that would otherwise by naturally incident, thereby simultaneously preventing loss of particulates to the surrounding environment before they have the chance to be vacuumed-up by the second fan 15 and enabling adequate cooling of the disc brake assembly 1,5.