Structural Optimization of Vented Brake Rotors with a Fully Parameterized Model

Vented brake rotors used in an automobile behave similarly to centrifugal fans, drawing cool air from the inboard side, passing it through the disc vents, and exhausting it from the periphery. A vented brake rotor with a better heat dispersing ability is often superior to a solid rotor, in both thermal performance and brake efficiency. In this research, a fully parameterized model for a ventilated brake rotor is created using the ANSYS Parametric Design Language, to uniquely define the rotor’s geometry. With this parameterized model, two structural optimization cases are studied in this paper. The first one investigated is a modal frequency separation problem: The frequency differences in a tangential mode sandwiched between two nodal diameter modes of the brake rotor model are maximized. An automatic identification scheme for extracting correct mode orders is implemented in the program to track the correct modes during optimization. The second case is a thermal deformation problem: The distortion on the frictional surfaces of the rotor loaded with heat flux generated during the braking process is minimized. The optimization results show that a brake rotor design with a thinner outboard disc and a thicker inboard disc provides a great choice for rotor coning reduction.