Floating Brake Disc Structure for Thermal Expansion Compliance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Brake discs in high-performance and sports vehicles experience mechanical issues due to thermal expansion and deformation during braking, particularly in motorcycles, as the brake strip undergoes significant heating, leading to misalignment and reduced mechanical compliance.
Innovation Solution
A 'floating' brake disc design featuring elastically deformable connecting elements between the brake strip and a supporting element, allowing relative movement in both radial and axial directions, with multiple connecting elements arranged in series to enhance compliance and reduce deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If the brake strip is made thinner to reduce mass, then the braking system becomes lighter, but the brake strip becomes more sensitive to thermal expansion and deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The brake disc employs a floating design where the brake strip can move dynamically relative to the supporting element through elastically deformable connecting elements. This dynamic capability allows the brake strip to accommodate thermal expansion and deformation while maintaining thin cross-section for reduced mass, resolving the contradiction between lightweight design and dimensional stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The connecting elements are designed with specific elastic properties that change under thermal loading. The elasticity of these connecting elements allows the brake strip to maintain proper positioning and alignment even when thermally expanded, enabling thin brake strip design without sacrificing reliability under thermal stress.
2Reliability
If elastic connecting elements are added to allow relative movement between brake strip and support, then compliance increases and thermal deformation is mitigated, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting element is divided into multiple components (first component, second component, and brake strip) connected by elastically deformable connecting elements. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function while the connecting elements provide the necessary compliance to accommodate thermal expansion, achieving high reliability without excessive overall complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The connecting elements are designed as elastically deformable components that function as flexible connectors between the rigid brake strip and supporting element. These flexible connections provide the necessary compliance for thermal expansion accommodation while maintaining a relatively simple structural configuration, balancing reliability improvement with complexity control.
3Reliability
If multiple connecting elements are arranged in series to double radial compliance and quadruple axial compliance, then thermal expansion compensation is enhanced, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The connecting elements are divided into two distinct groups: first connecting elements between the brake strip and second component, and second connecting elements between the second and first components. This segmentation into series-connected groups provides the required compliance characteristics (doubled radial, quadrupled axial) while maintaining modular manufacturing and assembly processes, balancing performance enhancement with ease of manufacture.
4Reliability
If the brake disc is designed as a floating brake disc with elastically deformable connections, then misalignment and deformation are reduced, but interchangeability with existing systems may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
The brake disc design maintains compatibility with existing floating brake disc systems by preserving the fundamental floating mechanism and interface characteristics. The elastically deformable connecting elements and supporting element structure are designed to work within the existing floating brake disc paradigm, ensuring interchangeability while providing improved alignment stability through the series-arranged connecting elements.
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 design doubles compliance in the radial direction and quadruples it in the axial direction, effectively mitigating thermal expansion-induced deformations and maintaining interchangeability with existing floating brake discs, while using the same number and arrangement of connecting elements to reduce costs and complexity.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of first connecting elements (4) for elastically deformably connecting the brake strip (2) with the supporting element (3)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
Described is a brake disc, rotating about its own axis of rotation (1a), comprising a brake strip (2), an element (3) for supporting the brake strip (2) and a plurality of first elements (4) for connecting the brake strip (2) with the supporting element (3) which can be elastically deformed in such a way as to allow a relative movement of the brake strip (2) with respect to the supporting element (3). The supporting element (3) comprises at least a first component (7) and a second component (8) connected to the brake strip (2) by means of the first connecting elements (4). A plurality of second connecting elements (9) of the first component (7) and of the second component (8) are elastically deformable in such a way as to allow a relative movement between the first component (7) and the second component (8).