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Two sets of OE quality brake discs were evaluated for their equivalence in friction and wear under a humidity controlled condition in order to avoid the influence of humidity on friction and wear. These discs were received from two different suppliers located in two different countries. Small differences were found in disc chemistry and microstructure, which resulted in differences in disc properties, and friction and wear characteristics. It is recommended that extreme care must be exercised in determining the performance equivalence of one disc from one supplier against another disc from a second supplier.

A previous investigation showed that minor variations in alloying elements in gray cast iron disc contributed to measurable differences in friction and disc wear. This investigation was undertaken to find out if and how the increased friction and disc wear might affect brake squeal. The SAE J2522 and J2521 dynamometer procedures as well as an OEM noise dynamometer procedure and a chassis dynamometer noise procedure were used to find out if a correlation between disc wear and brake squeal could be discovered. In all cases, as the wear rate of a disc increases under a given set of test conditions, disc material transfer to the pad surface increases, which results in increased friction and brake squeal. Also a good method to detect disc variability (disc to disc, within a disc) is discussed.