DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF AN AUTOMOBILE DISK BRAKE BALANCING MACHINE

Abstract

The Design of an Automobile Disk Brake Balancing Machine was chosen as the final year project by the aforementioned team. The scope of this work involves the design and fabrication of non-rotating static disk brake balancing machine. The project was undertaken as a proof of concept for the industry partner, MECAS Engineering, which aims to introduce this as a regular feature for its product line. The concept design for the project was unconventional. The design team opted for a nonrotational balancing machine instead of the renowned rotational ones. This decision was taken after a thorough analysis of several rotational and non-rotational designs and eventually based on a design selection matrix. The non-rotational machine employs three equally spaced load-cells which measure the weight distribution of the disk brake positioned on top, instead of measuring the vibration of the rotor during rotation. The array of data from each of the load-cells was filtered, processed and finally integrated with each other to obtain meaningful information about the location and mass of unbalance. The minimum unbalance detection of 1300 gmm which was the limit set by the industry partner was successfully achieved with strict conformity with ISO 1940-1:2003 balancing quality standards for grade 40 rotors. By removing rotational components, the machine has practically eliminated any chances of injury. It also comes with a more economic price tag and substantially reduces cycle time for increased inspection rates. The graphical user interface made by using LabVIEW assists a common every day worker in easy operation and maintainability of the machine and its software architecture.