Model of energy consumption by brake discs of rail vehicles

The aim of the article is to present a computational model to determine the losses generated by the brake discs of rail vehicles. The energy consumption of the disc (energy losses) is divided into inertia losses and fan losses. The article is preceded by a review of the design solutions of brake discs of rail vehicles in terms of their ventilation and cooling after braking. Particular attention was paid to three types of brake disc designs with ventilation blades, bars and other shapes of ventilation bridges, and how the ventilation of these discs affects energy losses. On the one hand, forced ventilation of brake discs shortens the cooling time after intensive braking, on the other hand, it causes energy losses due to forced ventilation when the brakes are not used. The article presents the state of knowledge regarding the cooling efficiency of brake discs as a result of forced ventilation and presents a method for calculating the energy consumption generated by the brake disc in relation to the rotational speed. The energy losses were divided in the article into inertia losses due to the rotating mass and losses on the fan, in which the energy necessary for the rotation of the brake disc was determined from the method of calculating centrifugal fans with known geometric dimensions.