Measurement-informed thermal modelling of frictional heat generation using experimentally identified time-dependent friction laws

Frictional braking converts kinetic energy into heat at the pad–disc interfaces, where the transient contact state governs the thermal response. While numerous models exist, consistent integration of experimentally observed, time-dependent friction behaviour into thermal simulations remains challenging. This work presents a measurement-informed thermal finite-element framework in which frictional heat input is prescribed using a smooth, time-dependent friction law μ fit ( t ) , identified from stepwise rotational-speed experiments. Unlike conventional approaches that directly use measured friction signals, the proposed method employs experimentally identified, smooth and physically consistent friction laws, enabling stable transient simulations without introducing additional phenomenological contact or wear parameters. The model incorporates temperature-dependent thermal contact conductance, effusivity-based heat partitioning, and calibrated convection/radiation boundary conditions. It is applied to a coaxial cylinder-on-cylinder tribology rig and evaluated across multiple brake material pairs (Al, Cu, steel, and composite against Steel 1018). Simulations accurately reproduce measured transient temperature histories, with root-mean-square errors in the range of 0.25 − 1.19 ∘ C across all cases. The resulting COMSOL implementation provides a reproducible and computationally efficient tool for comparative thermal assessment and early-stage screening of friction material combinations.