Mechanical · Automotive (Chassis & Suspension)
Brake System Design & Thermal Analysis
Intermediate 4 weeks 30-50 hours
Build a scaled brake dyno: a spinning disc braked by a friction pad while you log temperature rise and stopping time. Analyze thermal behavior and fade over repeated stops.
Major
Mechanical
Focus area
Automotive (Chassis & Suspension)
Total hours
30-50 hours
What you'll need
- DC motor 12V high speed for Arduino
- friction brake pad material for testing
- DS18B20 waterproof digital temperature sensor probe
- infrared IR optical tachometer RPM speed sensor module
- Arduino Mega 2560 R3 microcontroller board
- load cell 5kg with HX711 amplifier weight sensor kit
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Steps
- Build a dyno with the motor spinning a metal disc and a lever that presses the brake pad.
- Add the load cell to measure pad force and the temperature probe near the disc.
- Program the Arduino to log RPM, pad force, and temperature.
- Run repeated stops and record stopping time and temperature rise.
- Look for brake fade as temperature climbs.
- Chart temperature and stopping time over repeated stops and document it for your portfolio.
What to photograph for your portfolio
- Brake dyno build
- temperature rise curves
- stopping time data
- fade analysis
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Engineered a brake system design & thermal analysis using Brake systems, thermal measurement, friction testing
Applied data analysis to implement, test, and validate the analysis end-to-end
Skills you'll show off
Brake systemsthermal measurementfriction testingdata analysis