Analysis of the Stress State in Brake Caliper Mounts of Front Motorbike Suspensions

The aim of this work is to analyze the stress and the strain fields in the brake caliper mounts of front motorbike suspensions produced by the braking action. First of all some formulae useful to evaluate the maximum braking force in function of the vehicle features (for instance total mass, centre of gravity position, tyre dimension and brake disk diameter) have been developed. A mathematical model useful to calculate the axial, the bending and the torque stresses on the braking caliper mounts has been then defined. The model has been developed by comparing the theoretical results with those obtained by some numerical analyses, based on the Finite Element Method. An ad hoc test equipment has been, finally, designed and manufactured in order to define and analyze experimentally the strength of different type of brake caliper mounts and, at the same time, to verify the proposed model.