Flow Field Experimental Study in Brake Discs with Aerodynamic Ventilation Columns

Summary This work presents a new design of ventilation pillars in ventilated brake discs. The use of National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) aerodynamic profiles is proposed. Of the references consulted, there is no standard or procedure that indicates how the pillars should be installed in the ventilated discs. Therefore, it is proposed using the Kaplan's error triangles theory of turbo hydraulic machinery to have a geometrically orderly way of placing the NACA 66-209 profiles from the suction diameter to the discharge diameter. To validate this new design, a 1:1 scale acrylic disc model was constructed, and tests were conducted in water using the particle tracking velocimetry technique to characterize the water model. The water experiment was performed at test speeds of 35, 41, 48, and 54 rpm. From the experiment in water, it is possible to visualize the flow field from the suction diameter to the model discharge diameter and scale the results to the prototype in air. Being 54 rpm in water equivalent to N = 1020 rpm in air, the radial velocity is 15.4% higher than a straight vanes disc. In addition, comparing the mass flow at the point of maximum speed, it is observed that the results obtained in this work are 40.21%, 65.49%, and 98.11% higher than those obtained by other works. Finally, the error of the accumulated experimental bias is extremely low, where the maximum error did not reach 1.17%. For this reason, it can be ensured that both the measurements made as well as the results obtained are highly reliable.