Modelling and Simulation of Disc Brake Contact Analysis and Squeal

Predicting disc brake squeal by means of the complex eigenvalue method has been a popular approach in the brake research community owing to its advantages over the dynamic transient method.The positive real parts of the complex eigenvalue reflect the degree of instability of the brake system and are thought to indicate the likelihood of squeal occurrence.This paper studies the disc brake squeal using a detailed 3-dimensional finite element (FE) model of a real disc brake. First, the FE model is validated through modal analysis both at component and assembly levels.Then, a number of possible structural modifications for suppressing unstable vibration are carried out.The effect of contact pressure distributions on squeal propensity is also investigated.Lastly,a plausible modification is proposed which should result in reduced positive real parts of the eigenvalues and hence produce better squeal noise performance.