Automotive Brake Hose Fluid Consumption Characteristics and Its Effects on Brake System Pedal Feel 2010-01-0082

During the automotive brake system design and development process, a large number of performance characteristics must be comprehended, assessed, and balanced against each other and, at times, competing performance objectives for the vehicle under development. One area in brake development that is critical to customer acceptance due to its impact on a vehicle's perceived quality is brake pedal feel. While a number of papers have focused on the specification, quantification and modeling of brake pedal feel and the various subsystem characteristics that affect it, few papers have focused specifically on brake corner hoses and their effect on pedal feel, in particular, during race-track conditions. Specifically, the effects of brake hose fluid consumption pedal travel and brake system response is not well comprehended during the brake development process. This paper introduces the basic construction of automotive brake hoses, the test methodologies and test results used to quantify brake hose fluid consumption under various operating conditions, and it illustrates the influence of hose performance at the vehicle-level using simple analyses on an example race track-capable sports car.