Rotor heat sinks

Hi all,
I've never tracked a car but I had a thought in relation to brake cooling.

Computers use a thin film of heat transfer paste on the CPU to the CPU cooler.
Could one use a similar heat transfer paste on the wheel to rotor mating surface to possibly draw some heat from the rotor to the wheel? The spokes of the wheel should be an excellent way to dissipate heat if you can pull enough from the rotor

The wheels already take a significant amount of heat from the rotors. Aluminum is a very good conductor of heat. IIRC, anti-seize compounds are decent conductors of heat.

JR

Wheels take so much heat from the brakes that in Formula One it is a means of getting the tires up to operating temperature quickly and maintaining in low ambient temperatures.

Interesting. Sounds like a moot point and a mess since there's already significant heat transfer

Heat transfer between metals isn't the bottleneck....getting enough cooling air flowing past is...

BTM said:

Heat transfer between metals isn't the bottleneck....getting enough cooling air flowing past is...

Click to expand...

Getting heat into the air is issue. Brake ducts forcing air thru rotor is the answer.
Metal to metal contact may already be substantial where thermal compound may not substantially increase heat transfer.

Assembly strength = Clamping Load x Friction Coefficient:
The maximum sustainable sheer force (strength) of the assembly is purely the clamping load force of studs/lugs times the coefficient of friction.
Fs = Fcl * Coefficient of friction.
Anything between the wheel/rotor/hub interface could lower the coefficient of friction. Parts should be "wire brush" clean and dry.

Example: changing from clean dry to greased may take the friction coefficient from .65-.8 down to .35-.15 , reducing the assembly strength by 50-80%!

turbosc297 said:

Hi all,
I've never tracked a car but I had a thought in relation to brake cooling.

Computers use a thin film of heat transfer paste on the CPU to the CPU cooler.
Could one use a similar heat transfer paste on the wheel to rotor mating surface to possibly draw some heat from the rotor to the wheel? The spokes of the wheel should be an excellent way to dissipate heat if you can pull enough from the rotor

Click to expand...

Why would you want to add any heat to the wheel bearing (and its lube)?


Norm