EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF LIGHTWEIGHT BRAKE ROTOR FOR A ROAD VEHICLE WITH REGENERATIVE BRAKING
One of the benefits of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles (HVs) is their potential to recuperate braking energy. Regenerative braking (RB) will minimize duty levels on the brakes, giving advantages including extended brake rotor and friction material life and, more significantly, reduced brake mass and minimised brake pad wear. Literature reviews indicated that a friction brake could be downsized while maintaining the same functional requirements of the vehicle braking in the standard brakes, including thermomechanical performance (heat transfer coefficient estimation, temperature distribution, cooling and stress deformation). This would allow lighter brake rotor to be designed and fitted with confidence in a normal passenger car alongside a hybrid electric drive. Ultimately, a design of lightweight brake discs suitable for any car-sized hybrid vehicle will be developed and tested using a test car. The results from experiments on a prototype lightweight brake disc will be shown to illustrate the effects of RBS/friction combination in terms of weight reduction. The design requirement, including reducing the thickness, would affect the temperature distribution and increase stress at the critical area.
BRAKE, FRICTION, REGENERATIVE, AUTOMOTIVE, LIGHTWEIGHT.
