An Insight to High Humidity-Caused Friction Modulation of Brake by Numerical Modeling of Dynamic Meniscus under Shearing

Abstract

To obtain an insight to high humidity-caused friction modulation in brake pad-rotor interface, the adhesion phenomenon due to a liquid bridge is simulated using an advanced particle method by varying the shearing speed of the interface. The method, called generalized interpolation material point for fluid-solid interactions (GIMP-FSI), was recently developed from the material point method (MPM) for fluid-solid interactions at small scales where surface tension dominates, thus suitable for studying the partially wet brake friction due to high humidity at a scale of 10 m. Dynamic capillary effects due to surface tension and contact angles are simulated. Adhesion forces calculated by GIMP-FSI are consistent with those from the existing approximate meniscus models. Moreover, the numerical results show that capillary effects induce modulations of adhesion as slip speed changes. In particular, the adhesion modulation could be above 30% at low speed. This finding provides insights into how the high humidity-caused friction could cause modulations of brake, which are unable to be achieved by conventional models. Therefore, the numerical analysis helps to elucidate the complex friction mechanisms associated with brakes that are exposed to high humidity environments.

Keywords

• meniscus
• adhesion
• capillary
• brake friction
• MPM
• fluid-solid interactions