The effect of residual stress on the distortion of gray iron brake disks

Thermal distortion of gray iron brake disks due to residual stress and its effect on brake vibrations were studied. The residual stress of heat- and non-heat-treated gray iron disks was measured using neutron scattering. Dynamometer tests were performed to measure the friction force oscillation caused by the disk runout during brake applications. High-temperature tensile tests were carried out to find out possible plastic deformation due to residual stress during brake applications. The results showed that the average residual stress of the heat-treated disk (47.6 MPa) was lower than that of the non-heat-treated disk (99.6 MPa). Dynamometer tests at high temperatures (up to 600 C) indicated that the residual stress pronounced the runout: the increase in disk runout after the tests for the non-heat-treated sample was more than twice that for the heat-treated sample. This difference correlated well with the neutron scattering results and the dimensional changes after a separate vacuum heat treatment. The high-temperature tensile tests showed severe reductions in yield strength at 600 C, suggesting that disks produced with no stress relaxation could be deformed during severe braking.