Wheel-mounted disc brakes are exposed to severe non-symmetrical mechanical
and thermal loads. The paper describes the design process for two high-perf
ormance, hub-mounted discs of different size and duty. The development has
resulted in two very successful but fundamentally different hub designs and
manufacturing methods. Initially, finite element analyses used in the desi
gn optimization were mainly concentrated on bulk thermal effects. Recently,
in order further to improve the design process, analyses have included mac
ro thermal effects, providing valuable results, particularly related to the
prediction of disc permanent coning, one of the most critical design requi
rements.