Automotive Brake Cooling CFD Simulation

The advanced thermal models available in iconCFD® allow the most efficient brake cooling simulation applications for vehicles. ICON’s tools simulate the heat transfer on rotating systems on multi-region CHT problems with great ease.

Automatic multi-region meshing in iconCFD® Mesh allows the setup of both fluid and solid regions at one time. This enables the modelling of all solid regions of the brake system, wheel hub, axle etc. as well as the cooling air flow and brake fluid to evaluate the peak brake fluid temperature during braking events. Transient heat up and cool down events of the braking cycle can be setup and simulated with multiple models available. Internal cooling channel layouts can be optimised to achieve the maximum cooling performance and best mass flow generation. Advanced DOE optimization techniques can be run on-premise or from any location with the iconPlatform cloud service.

ICON engineering expertise is not just limited (like some) to simulation objectives but extends to the physical testing process and critically, how the new designs will be integrated into the development of the whole vehicle.

Proven and practical
Developed with leading automotive engineers who use the product daily, iconCFD® has to be first choice for brake cooling simulations. Proven by the world’s largest automotive OEMs and leading race teams, you also know you can trust the results. Complex, multi-physics solutions become quicker, easier and cheaper than ever before. Unlimited HPC-cores, parallel runs and CFD users saves you both time and money. Most importantly, it enables unrestricted, cost-effective exploration of ideas and possibilities in the early design phase.

What applications’ features?

• Efficient process to evaluate thermal performance of automotive brake applications
• Transient thermal heat up and cool down simulations within hours
• Optimize brake cooling performance early on in the product development when surrounding designs on suspension component/wheel hub etc are still to be modifiable
• Improve the thermal performance of your brake disc designs and use state of the art DoE tools to optimize the design
• Parallel computing for max efficiency from meshing through to post processing
• Established processes are available for a steep learning curve and productivity within days
• Perform all the simulation (flow, thermal) in one tool. No coupling between software required
• Get insight into the underlaying physics that drive brake cooling, which are hard to measure in real life (e.g. temperature distribution inside the caliper material)

ICON offers many advantages:

• Industry proven, reliable and cost-efficient process optimization tools. These will help you to decrease commodity cost, enhance product consistency, improve manufacturing productivity and increase sustainability
• Able to handle multi-scale multi-physics complex geometries
• Automated design optimization processes to improve product/process efficiency, safety and durability – using Adjoint and integrated Design of Experiment (DoE) methods
• User friendly interface with capability of being adapted to match user expertise
• No requirement to be locked in to an expensive, long-term contract

In addition to software, we also provide CFD consulting, CFD training and CFD support services to help you resolve problems and increase independent capability.

ICON can help you deliver measurable improvements. Our mission is also to make CFD less complex and less expensive for you to use. With over 30 years’ experience and expertise, you can trust ICON to deliver.

Why not find out more?
In summary, ICON is a global expert and the preferred option for many in the automotive industry. We offer a viable alternative to the big software conglomerates that gives you more accuracy, more speed, more flexibility, greater capacity and lower costs. Get in touch and find out more.