Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly popular because of their high efficiency, reduced
emissions, and lower maintenance requirements. However, brake disc overheating remains a significant challenge,
especially during emergency braking, downhill driving, and regenerative braking transitions. Excessive heat causes
brake fade, increased wear, thermal cracking, and reduced braking performance, affecting vehicle safety and
component life. Conventional ventilated brake discs rely only on natural air cooling, which is often insufficient under
severe operating conditions. This paper proposes a novel adaptive self-cooling brake disc that combines passive
phase-change material (PCM) microcapsules with bio-inspired airflow channels. The PCM microcapsules are
embedded within selected regions of the brake disc to absorb excess thermal energy during high-temperature
operation through latent heat storage. Simultaneously, airflow channels inspired by the branching structure of leaf
veins improve air circulation and convective heat transfer without requiring additional power consumption. Unlike
active cooling systems, the proposed design is completely passive, lightweight, and maintenance-free. A
mathematical heat transfer model is developed to evaluate transient temperature distribution inside the brake disc.
The proposed concept is compared with conventional ventilated brake discs using theoretical thermal analysis.
Expected results indicate that the adaptive cooling system can reduce peak brake disc temperature by approximately
18–25%, improve cooling rate by nearly 30%, and increase brake component life by reducing thermal stress. The
proposed system offers a promising solution for next-generation electric vehicles by improving braking reliability
while maintaining energy efficiency.