Thermal Load Simulations in Railway Disc Brake: A Systematic Review of Modelling Temperature, Stress and Fatigue

Disc brakes are the most important contributor of safety in railway vehicles. Appropriate modelling of heat input and boundary conditions in railway disc brake thermal load simulation plays a key role to predict exact results. Starting from early generation of railway technology, many researchers have dealt with FEM modelling, although lack of uniformity has been prevailing between them. Based on this problem, this review tries to answer the research question: What FE boundary conditions and heat input modelling have been utilized in railway disc brake temperature, stress and fatigue simulations?. Modelling effectiveness is evaluated based on boundary condition estimation, and spatial and time variation. The review is based on 49 significant publications available from 1995 to 2020. A method of systematic literature review is used to collect, identify and filter past and current trends in modelling. No study was revealed to incorporate all thermal modelling observed in actual braking conditions, including heat transfer modes, heat input calculations, heat applications, and its spatial and time variation.

Automated summary

This review examines 49 significant publications from 1995 to 2020 to evaluate the effectiveness of modelling railway disc brake thermal load simulations. The study found that current research has not fully incorporated all thermal modelling observed in actual braking conditions, including heat transfer modes, heat input calculations, heat applications, and spatial and time variation.