Squeal noise in simple numerical brake models

Since the early 1920s, automotive disc brake squeal has caused warranty issues and customer dissatisfaction. Despite a good deal of progress achieved, predicting brake squeal propensity is as difficult as ever as not all mechanisms and interactions are known owing to their highly fugitive complex nature. In recent years, research has been focused on the prediction of unstable vibration modes by the complex eigenvalue analysis (CEA) for the mode-coupling type of instability. There has been very limited consideration given to the calculation of the acoustic radiation properties due to friction contact between a pad and a rotor. Recent analyses using a forced response analysis with harmonic contact pressure excitation indicates negative dissipated energy at some pad eigenfrequencies predicted to be stable by the CEA. A transient nonlinear time domain analysis with no external excitation indicates that squeal could develop at these eigenfrequencies. Here, the acoustic radiation characteristics of those pad modes are determined by analysing the acoustic power levels and radiation efficiencies of simplified brake models in the form of a pad rubbing on a plate or on a disc using the acoustic boundary element method based on velocities extracted from the forced response analysis. Results show that unstable pad modes trigger unstable disc vibrations resulting in instantaneous mode squeal similar to those observed experimentally. Changes in the radiation efficiency with pressure variations are smaller than those with friction coefficient variations and are caused by the phase difference of the velocities out-of-plane vibration between the pad and the disc.