Wheel and brake assembly

A wheel and brake assembly comprising:

• a stator;
• a rotating assembly mounted around and rotatable relative to the stator about an axis A;
• a heat shield provided between the stator and the rotating assembly, wherein metallic sodium is provided in a first cavity in the heat shield;
• a torque tube in fixed engagement with the stator;
• a stack of brake disks mounted about the torque tube, the stack of brake disks comprising alternate rotor disks and stator disks, the stator disks attached to the torque tube and the rotor disks attached to the rotating assembly;
• a brake actuator configured to, in response to a brake command, apply a pressing force on the stack of brake disks to cause frictional engagement between the rotor disks and the stator disks such that the stator disks limit rotation of the rotor disks and, hence the rotating assembly, relative to the torque tube;
• wherein the stator disks are attached to the torque tube by means of a plurality of splines around the torque tube and a plurality of recesses in the stator disks in which the splines engage;
• wherein the rotor disks are attached to the rotating assembly by means of a plurality of torque bars extending radially inwards from the rotating assembly and a plurality of recesses in the rotor disks with which the torque bars engage;
• wherein at least one or more of the plurality of torque bars or one or more of the plurality of splines has a second cavity formed therein and wherein liquid sodium is provided in the second cavity.