Brake Components Calculator - Version 1.

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Case: Test -- Wilwood Front / Corvette C4 Rear

This purpose of this calculator is to assist in the selection of brake system components. It is based on the "Brake Handbook" by Fred Puhn. It is recommended the user
read this book before using the spreadsheet. Page references to this book are noted in some line items below.

This spreadsheet is a modification of the AdamsBrake Calculator. Please see additional attribution comments at the end of page 2.

Caveat: There has been NO engineering review of this spreadsheet. It is the users responsibility to verify its accuracy and appropriateness for their intended use.

Enter user values into yellow cells.

Calculated values appear in green cells.

Baseline Parameters
Vehicle weight 1700 lbs Including driver and load.
Front weight split 50 % % loaded vehicle weight on front axle.
Wheelbase 92 in.
CoG height 12.50 in. Puhn suggests sports cars just above wheel center if not otherwise determined, pg 92
Max deceleration 1.00 g Same as max. coefficient of friction for tires, 0.8 recommended for street tires, pg 93
Brake pedal input force 80 lbs At max. deceleration; typically 75 lbs to 100lbs; 75 lbs. recommended, pg 101
Brake pedal ratio 5.50 :1 Typically from 5:1 to 6:1
Number of masters 2 cyl 1 for tandem, 2 for dual
Pad coeff of friction 0.40 0.3 is typical, race pads may be higher pg 99

Tires Front Rear

Tire tread width 225 315 mm
Tire cross-section 45 35 %
Wheel Diameter 17 17 in.
Nominal Tire Radius 12.49 12.84 in.
Wheel rolling radius 12.25 12.60 with wheel loaded

Rotors and Calipers Front Rear

Rotor Diameter 11.00 12.01 in.
Piston Diameter 1.62 1.57 of each caliper piston, in.
Brake effective radius 4.69 5.22 in. pg. 99
Brake calliper type 1 2 1=fixed, 2=floating Fixed has opposing pistons; Floating has piston(s) on one side only
# of pistons 4 1 per calliper, pg 99
Effective piston area / caliper 8.245 3.872 area = #pistons * calliperType * pi * (pistonDiameter/2)^2

Maximum Conditions Front Rear at 1.00 g. deceleration

Dynamic weight per axle 1081 619 based on max. deceleration weight transfer, pg. 94. Note that aeroloads are not included in the calculations.
Friction force per tire 540 310 based on dynamic weight per tire, pg. 94
Ideal force balance 63.6 36.4 %, based on friction force per tire
Brake torque per wheel 6621 3900 frictionForce * wheelRollingRadius, pg 94
Hydraulic pressure needed 428 482 brakeTorque / ( padFrictionCoeff * totalCalliperArea per wheel * BrakeEffectiveRadius), pg 99
Master cylinder area 0.514 0.456 masterCylinderArea = pedalPressure * pedalRatio / numberOfMasters / hydraulicPressure; @ 50/50 Balance Bar, pg 101
Brake torque ratio 6.142 3.517 brake torque ratio = (pistonArea / masterCylArea) * (BrakeEfectiveRadius / wheelRollingRadius), pg 99-103
Ideal master cyl. diameter 0.809 0.762 ideal = 2 * sqrt(masterCylinderArea / pi)
Ideal Balance 63.6 36.4 %, based on brake torque ratio

Selected MC System Front Rear

Closest mc diameter match 0.813 0.750 ======================================> Available Master Cylinders (check with your supplier)
Master cylinder stroke 1.1 1.1 (use 1/2 for each for a tandem master) Bore Size Diameter Bore Size Diameter
Master cylinder area 0.519 0.442 5/8in 0.625 19mm 0.748
Resulting brake torque ratio 6.081 3.631 11/16in 0.688 20mm 0.787
Resulting balance 62.6 37.4 %, based on brake torque ratio 3/4in 0.750 21mm 0.827
Master cylinder movement 0.496 0.274 per 1/64" of caliper piston movement 13/16in 0.813 22mm 0.866
Pedal movement 2.730 1.506 per 1/64" of caliper piston movement 7/8in 0.875 23mm 0.906
Max caliper piston movement 0.035 0.063 at full mc stroke 15/16in 0.938 24mm 0.945
Max pedal movement 6.050 6.050 at full mc stroke 1in 1.000
Pedal force 40.4 38.7 lbs.
Pedal Force Total 79.2 lbs. at 1.00 g. deceleration
 Rear Brake Line Fluid Pressure (pg 56) Actual Ideal Balanced Proportioned

800

When Rear Line Pressure is above

700 the "Ideal" line, the rears lock first.

600

500
Line Pressure

400

When Rear Line Pressure is below

300
the"Ideal" line, the fronts lock first.

200

100

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 1.1 1.2
Deceleration (g)

Balance Bar For dual master cylinders use setting %. For tandem master cylinders use 50%.
Setting 53 % = Distance pedal pivot is along balance bar from front mc pushrod end towards rear mc pushrod end, pg. 75
Balance Bar Multiplier 1.13 x "Actual" Pressure = "Balanced" hydraulic Pressure

Proportioning Valve See technical paper here: http://www.stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/proportioning-valves

Valve setting 375 psi, typically between 100psi and 1000psi
Slope 57 % reduction in hydraulic pressure for presure increments above propotioning valve setting
[Wilwood proportioning valve P/N 260-10922, 57% reduction; Tilton P/N 90-2000, 67% reduction]

Weight per Axle Braking Torque per Wheel Hydraulic Pressure

Front Rear Front Rear
Braking Force (g) xfer (#) Front (#) Rear (#) % front % rear Ideal Actual Ideal Actual Balanced Proportioned
0 0 850 850 50.0 50.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0.1 23 873 827 51.4 48.6 535 521 319 35 64 39 45 45
0.2 46 896 804 52.7 47.3 1098 1013 656 71 125 81 91 91
0.3 69 919 781 54.1 45.9 1689 1476 1009 109 183 125 141 141
0.4 92 942 758 55.4 44.6 2309 1909 1379 149 236 171 192 192
0.5 115 965 735 56.8 43.2 2957 2314 1766 191 286 218 246 246
0.6 139 989 711 58.2 41.8 3633 2689 2169 235 333 268 303 303
0.7 162 1012 688 59.5 40.5 4338 3035 2590 280 375 320 361 361
0.8 185 1035 665 60.9 39.1 5070 3353 3028 328 415 375 422 395
0.9 208 1058 642 62.2 37.8 5832 3641 3482 377 450 431 486 423
1.0 231 1081 619 63.6 36.4 6621 3900 3954 428 482 489 551 451
1.1 254 1104 596 64.9 35.1 7439 4130 4442 481 511 549 620 480
1.2 277 1127 573 66.3 33.7 8285 4331 4947 536 536 612 690 510

Braking Torque - Rear: "Ideal" is based on the rear weight after xfer.
"Actual" is based the front braking torque * the braking torque ratio.

Hydraulic Pressure - Rear: "Actual" is the pressure needed to achieve the "Actual" braking torque.
"Balanced" is the "Actual" hydraulic pressure * the balance bar multiplier.
"Proportioned" is the same as the "Balanced" hydraulic pressure until the proportioning valve setting psi is
reached, at which point the "Balanced" pressure is rolled-off according to the proportioning valve's slope.

Notes from Book: Ideal is to have the rear locking force just higher than the front locking force
If using a tandem master cylinder, wheels with the lower required pedal pressure will lock first. If the rear force
is lower a proportioning valve will help to prevent instability under braking.
If using dual master cylinders through a balance bar, pedal force is additive.
A balance bar is used to adjust the pedal force to lock front wheels just before the rears.
Cylinder and pedal movement is additive for tandem masters, maximum for dual masters.
masterCylinderMovement = pistonDistance* masterCylinderArea / pistonArea, * 2 for both wheels.
Pedal movement is masterCylinderMovement * pedalRatio

Attribution:
The Brake Components Calculator is a modified version of the AdamsBrake Calculator spreadsheet. The AdamsBrake Calculator is posted on the Locost Forum here
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4090 where it is attributed to Mike Polan and reference is made to a book about brakes by Herb Adams. However,
the pages noted in the spreadsheet correlate instead with those of the "Brake Handbook" by Fred Puhn. It is highly recommended the user read this book before using the
spreadsheet. The changes made in this version of the spreadsheet include: (1) Re-formating for ease of reading and printing, (2) Additions and clarifications to line item
notes, (3) Addition of Nominal Tire Radius and Brake Effective Radius inline calculations, (4) Corrections to the cylinder and piston motion calculations and to the balance bar
calculations to better address the general case, and (5) Removal of the "Protect Sheet" constraint so user changes to the spreadsheet can made.