Effect of drum radius variation on the brake torque variation and brake factor

Abstract

In the drum brake system analysis, the drum is assumed to be perfectly round and this is the case as reported by simulation work done elsewhere. The true effect of roundness of the drum on the brake torque has never been investigated. In this study, a brake drum of a motorcycle is subjected to the roundness test, the brake torque test and the lining compression test. The effect of roundness of the drum is analysed experimentally and with FEM analysis and showed that the roundness affected the braking torque, and this value changes with the rotation of the drum. Correlation between experimental and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the brake torque showed a strong relationship with the Pearson coefficient of 0.828. The brake factor values were found to be in the range of 0.5–2.0, which is close to the theoretical brake factor value of 2.0 for μ = 0.3.