Friction material wear: Effects and interactions between service brake temperature, lining contact pressure, and vehicle speed

Abstract

International standards and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) procedures usually define wear tests in organic materials focusing on the brake lining temperature. The current work presents an approach combining different brake pads temperatures, vehicle speeds, and brake pressures for analyzing their effects and interactions in the friction material wear through dynamometer tests. Therefore, mechanical properties were evaluated, where internal shear strength had the most significant influence on wear; furthermore, compressive strength and flexural strength did not considerably change with variations on the test parameters. A 23 factorial design of the experiment (DOE) showed that the brake temperature alone was not the main factor for increasing wear, and the primary wear mechanism was abrasion. Furthermore, higher vehicle speed (80 km/h) along with greater brake pressure (3 bar) promoted the highest friction material mass loss (10.8 g).