Segmented Carbon-Carbon Brake Disc Structure for Crack Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Carbon-Carbon (C/C) disc brakes for high-performance vehicles suffer from low flexural strength and susceptibility to cracks and fractures, particularly in high-end road applications and extreme braking scenarios, where existing architectures fail to provide optimal resistance and minimal thickness requirements.
Innovation Solution
A disc brake material comprising layers of carbon fibers with alternating radial and transverse segments, subjected to thermal or thermochemical densification and optionally infiltrated with silicon or silicon carbide, which enhances flexural strength and drag resistance while reducing the number of layers needed for equivalent performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If conventional carbon fiber layers are used with traditional architectures, then the disc can be manufactured with standard processes, but the flexural strength is low and cracks/fractures occur frequently
Solution Approach 1:
The carbon fiber layers are divided into multiple segments (radial segments and transverse segments) arranged in alternating sequences. This segmentation allows each segment to carry specific loads independently, preventing crack propagation across the entire layer and significantly improving flexural strength and resistance to fractures
Solution Approach 2:
Different segments of the carbon fiber layers are oriented in different directions (radial vs. transverse) to provide locally optimized mechanical properties. Radial segments provide strength in the radial direction while transverse segments provide strength in the circumferential direction, creating a locally adaptive structure that resists multi-directional stresses
2Strength
If more carbon fiber layers are added to increase resistance, then the flexural strength improves, but the minimum admissible thickness of the disc plates increases
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting each layer into radially and transversely oriented sections, the structural efficiency of each layer is maximized. This allows achieving the required flexural strength with fewer layers, thereby reducing the minimum admissible thickness of the disc plates while maintaining or improving load-bearing capacity
Solution Approach 2:
The alternating pattern of radial and transverse carbon fiber segments within each layer creates a composite structure that optimizes mechanical properties. This composite architecture provides superior strength-to-thickness ratio compared to conventional uniform carbon fiber layers
3Temperature
If the disc thickness is reduced for performance reasons, then the ventilation and heat dissipation improve, but the resistance and flexural strength decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The segmented layer structure maximizes the mechanical efficiency of each layer, enabling thinner disc designs that maintain sufficient flexural strength. The alternating radial and transverse segments create a structurally optimized configuration that prevents crack propagation even in thinner configurations
Solution Approach 2:
The invention optimizes the internal architecture of each layer by introducing radial-segmentation, transforming the traditional planar carbon fiber layout into a multi-directional segmented structure. This dimensional reorganization enhances strength properties without increasing thickness, allowing thinner discs with improved heat dissipation
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 proposed architecture significantly reduces the occurrence of cracks and fractures, ensures high resistance, and allows for a thinner disc design with reduced minimum thickness, maintaining performance and increasing the useful life of the disc through improved heat dissipation and ventilation.
Implementation Method 1
The carbon matrix is obtained during densification processes of the fibrous structure, which may be performed in various manners, for example by means of Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Chemical Vapor Infiltration (CVI), Liquid Polymer Infiltration (LPI), Polymer Infiltration and Pyrolysis (PIP), or impregnation with resin and/or pitch.
Implementation Method 2
optionally infiltrated with silicon or silicon carbide
Data Source
AI summary
A shaped material, for example, a disc for disc brakes, and a method for the manufacturing thereof. The shaped material has a plurality of layers of carbon fibers stacked along an overlap axis, each layer being formed by a plurality of radial segments and transverse segments. Each radial segment is adjacent and joined, on both sides, to a transverse segment and each transverse segment is adjacent and joined, on both sides, to a radial segment, forming in each layer an alternation of radial segments and transverse segments.