Thermoelastic coupling vibration and stability analysis of rotating circular plate in friction clutch

Rotating friction circular plates are the main components of a friction clutch. The vibration and temperature field of these friction circular plates in high speed affect the clutch operation. This study investigates the thermoelastic coupling vibration and stability of rotating friction circular plates. Firstly, based on the middle internal forces resulting from the action of normal inertial force, the differential equation of transverse vibration with variable coefficients for an axisymmetric rotating circular plate is established by thin plate theory and thermal conduction equation considering deformation effect. Secondly, the differential equation of vibration and corresponding boundary conditions are discretized by the differential quadrature method. Meanwhile, the thermoelastic coupling transverse vibrations with three different boundary conditions are calculated. In this case, the change curve of the first two-order dimensionless complex frequencies of the rotating circular plate with the dimensionless angular speed and thermoelastic coupling coefficient are analyzed. The effects of the critical dimensionless thermoelastic coupling coefficient and the critical angular speed on the stability of the rotating circular plate with simply supported and clamped edges are discussed. Finally, the relation between the critical divergence speed and the dimensionless thermoelastic coupling coefficient is obtained. The results provide the theoretical basis for optimizing the structure and improving the dynamic stability of friction clutches.