One-Piece Drum Brake Spider for Vibration and Weight Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional brake spider manufacturing methods, such as cast iron or stamped steel, result in inefficiencies, extra cost, and weight due to material misplacement, and high tooling costs, especially for lower volume components, which can lead to waste and suboptimal performance under varying load conditions.
Innovation Solution
A one-piece brake spider design using additive manufacturing techniques eliminates welds and distortion, allowing for variable reinforcement and optimized material distribution to match specific applications, reducing weight and vibration while supporting high loads through ribbing and customizable cam end support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional cast iron or stamped steel manufacturing methods are used, then the brake spider can be produced with sufficient strength, but the material distribution is inefficient resulting in extra weight and cost
Solution Approach 1:
The brake spider employs variable thickness design where material is concentrated in high-stress areas (such as around anchor points and camshaft mounting locations) and reduced in low-stress areas. This local quality variation optimizes material distribution to provide sufficient strength exactly where needed while minimizing overall weight, resolving the contradiction between strength and weight.
Solution Approach 2:
The design process incorporates finite element analysis and stress mapping before manufacturing to predetermined the optimal material distribution. This preliminary action allows the spider to be designed with material placed exactly where it is needed to handle expected loads, avoiding both over-engineering (extra weight) and under-engineering (insufficient strength).
2Ease of manufacture
If traditional manufacturing methods are used, then production can proceed with established processes, but tooling costs are extremely high causing waste for lower volume components
Solution Approach 1:
The brake spider design and manufacturing process are created to be universally applicable across multiple vehicle applications and production volumes. By designing a flexible manufacturing approach that can accommodate different quantities without requiring application-specific tooling, the system eliminates waste associated with dedicated tooling for low-volume components while maintaining ease of manufacture through standardized processes.
3Reliability
If material is placed in optimized locations for each application, then brake performance is improved, but traditional processes cannot achieve this optimization
Solution Approach 1:
The manufacturing approach utilizes controllable parameters of modern manufacturing processes (such as additive manufacturing layer thickness, material deposition rates, or stamping pressure distributions) to achieve optimized material placement. By changing and controlling these manufacturing parameters, the process capability is enhanced to produce spiders with material distributed exactly where needed for optimal brake performance under specific application conditions.
4Strength
If the spider is designed with variable reinforcement, then it can support specific application loads, but the design complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Variable reinforcement is implemented through localized variations in material thickness and density at specific positions in the spider structure. Rather than uniformly increasing complexity throughout the entire component, the design applies local quality changes only where needed to support specific application loads, maintaining simplicity in non-critical areas while providing enhanced strength where required.
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
The solution enhances brake performance by minimizing weight, optimizing material usage, and controlling natural frequencies, reducing noise and vibration, and lowering production costs by eliminating dedicated tooling and enabling more versatile product offerings.
Implementation Method 1
Use of an additive manufacturing technique, in particular, enables implementation of a spider design acting to dampen vibration and control natural frequencies of the overall complete brake assembly based on specific application requirements
Implementation Method 2
The spider can be reinforced with ribbing to stiffen and improve performance
Implementation Method 3
Use of an additive manufacturing technique, in particular, enables implementation of a spider design acting to dampen vibration and control natural frequencies of the overall complete brake assembly
Data Source
AI summary
A one piece drum brake spider construction eliminates welds and distortion, at least relative to a typically fabricated spider, and should improve brake performance. The spider includes a main body plate having opposed flat sides, an outer perimeter, and an inner perimeter configured to receive an axle tube. Vibration control structure is preferably formed on at least one of the opposed flat sides of the main body plate, and the brake drum spider additionally includes weight minimizing features. At least the main body plate may be produced by any of a casting technique, a stamping technique, a machining technique, and an additive manufacturing technique. The invention also concerns a process of producing such a brake drum spider.