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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.

Earlier publications have demonstrated that pad and disc properties change during storage and also during the SAE J2522 Brake Effectiveness Test Procedure. The current investigation was undertaken to find out how the properties change under milder braking conditions, using the SAE J2707 Wear Test Procedure. A copper-free formulation was selected for the investigation and tested on an inertia dynamometer using a front caliper designed for a passenger car. The pad dynamic modulus changed up or down throughout the test, depending on the test conditions. The pad dynamic modulus, the pad natural frequencies and the disc natural frequencies all decreased by the end of the test. Under high-speed, high-deceleration and high-temperature braking conditions, the pad surface region permanently expands, which results in reduced dynamic modulus and also leads to reduced pad thickness loss as compared with pad weight loss.

In a previous investigation, brake squeal was found to be related to disc wear, but not to pad wear or in-stop average coefficient of friction as tested according to the SAE J2522 performance procedure, using Low-Copper NAOs. To further validate the disc wear - squeal correlation, a variety of formulations of No-Copper, Low-Copper and High-Copper NAO disc pads were made and tested to investigate friction, pad wear, disc wear, brake squeal and wheel dust formation. It is found that disc weight loss measured at the end of the burnish cycle of the SAE J2522 (AK Master) is closely related to dynamometer/vehicle brake squeal and vehicle wheel dust formation, and that there is a critical disc wear rate of approximately 1.0 grams for the current brake system, below which brake squeal and wheel dust are minimal.

Commercial heavy truck drum linings of 4 different compositions were tested using the Chase tester under constant loads and temperatures at a constant speed in order to find out how lining wear might affect the friction coefficient. When the lining wear increases, the friction coefficient increases linearly under a condition of constant load, speed and temperature. However, when the lining wear approaches zero, the friction coefficient still remains relatively high, indicating other factors are also involved in controlling friction such as interface deformation and others. As the temperature increases or the load increases, the wear contribution to the friction becomes less and less effective. All these observations are discussed and explained in terms of wear particle formation and friction film behavior.

Earlier publications show that brake pad physical properties such as hardness, modulus and natural frequencies continue to increase at room temperature over a period of 12 months and that the changes are faster during the first 3 - 6 months. The current investigation was undertaken to see how the properties might change during testing for the pads as well as for the discs. Low-copper and copper-free formulations were tested on pickup truck and passenger car brakes. In all cases, the dynamic modulus and natural frequencies are found to decrease (not increase) after the SAE J2522 performance testing, indicating that the stiffness of the pad and that of the disc decrease faster than the mass loss due to wear. Also, the inboard pad and the outboard pad change at two different rates.

It is widely believed or speculated that higher pad compressibility leads to reduced brake squeal and that caliper design can affect brake squeal. After encountering anecdotal contradictory cases, this investigation was undertaken to systematically generate basic data and clarify the beliefs or speculations. In order to adjust pad compressibility, it is common to modify pad molding temperatures, pressures and times, which in addition to changing the compressibility, changes friction coefficient and physical properties of the pad at the same time. In order to separate these two effects, NAO disc pads were prepared under the same molding conditions while using different thicknesses of the underlayer to achieve different compressibilities, thus changing the compressibility only without changing the friction coefficient and physical properties of the pad.

The dynamics and, in particular, the NVH phenomena in brakes are still in the focus of research. Recent investigations of for example Rhee et al. show two principal vibrational forms of the linings on the rotor [1]. The first form is characterized by vibrations where both linings are in-phase (minimal differential torque between the inner pad and the outer pad). This produces in-plane vibrations of the rotor and results in high-frequency squealing events in the brake. The second form is an antiphase vibration of the brake linings with respect to each other (increased differential torque between the inner pad and the outer pad). This produce directly out-of-plane vibrational modes of the disc, which results in lower-frequency caliper and rotor oscillations. One hypothesis is that different wear densities of the linings essentially characterize the two vibrational modes. The wear behavior is not taken into consideration of this paper as it will be discussed in further publications.

Non-Asbestos Organic (NAO) disc pads and Low Steel Lomet disc pads were subjected to high and low humidity conditions to discover how humidity affects these two classes of formulations for physical properties, friction, wear and noise characteristics. The 2 classes of formulations show similarities and differences in response to increasing humidity. The humidity effect on deformation of the surface microstructure of the gray cast iron disc is also investigated. Humidity implications for pad quality control and brake testing are discussed.

The kinetics of moisture adsorption is studied for copper-free brake pads. The pad weight gain is found to increase linearly with the square root of exposure time to humidity at a given temperature in the initial stage of adsorption - the higher the humidity, the higher the weight gain. Pads cured at 150°C adsorb less moisture than pads cured at 220°C. As the moisture content in the pad increases, the tangent modulus increases while the secant modulus decreases, resulting in decreasing compressibility associated with the tangent modulus of compression and increasing compressibility associated with the secant modulus of compression - compressibility defined as a reciprocal of compression modulus. Static modulus of compression, dynamic modulus of compression and hardness measurements are compared, and they all show the same trend. A rate constant of adsorption is proposed to define and compare moisture sensitivity of friction material

Copper-free disc pads of 9 different compositions were made using a traditional hot molding process and tested to study frictional behavior. It is found that the friction coefficient consists primarily of two parts; one part controlled by the plastic deformation of the friction surface region of the disc and pad, and the second part controlled by the total wear of the disc and pads. As the plastic deformation and the wear are non-linear with respect to the load and sliding speed, the friction coefficient becomes a non-linear function of the load and speed. Under moderate braking conditions, the plastic deformation part is more significant in determining the friction coefficient while under more severe braking conditions, the wear contribution becomes more significant. The frictional behavior of a fade cycle is explained, and the correlation between brake squeal and disc wear is confirmed.

The current investigation was undertaken to find out if lighter-weight passenger car disc pads would exhibit wear behaviors similar to pickup truck pads and commercial heavy truck drum linings in terms of the permanent volume expansion of the friction material contact surface region. 2 high-copper NonAsbestos Organic formulations and 3 copper-free LowMet formulations were tested according to the SAE J2522 test procedure. In all cases, the measured pad thickness loss was found to be less than the thickness loss calculated from the weight loss, indicating pad volume expansion in the pad surface region, in full agreement with the results from the pickup truck and heavy trucks. The heataffected swollen/expanded layer ranges from 0.27 to 0.61 mm in thickness depending on the formula and test conditions. Due to the expansion, pad durability projections made from test results based on high temperature city traffic tests can result in underestimating the actual durability.

There is anecdotal evidence that disc pad wear numbers measured in thickness loss and disc pad wear numbers measured in weight loss do not show the same wear trends after wear or performance testing. However, research papers on this topic are difficult to find. Therefore, this investigation was undertaken to study and document this behavior in detail on high-copper, low-copper and no-copper (or copper-free) NAO pads. In all cases, thickness loss measurements are found to be substantially lower than expected from the weight loss data according to the SAE J2522 test schedule. This divergence is caused by pad swelling in the pad layer adjacent to the friction contact surface during brake testing at high temperatures. In addition to formulation changes, disc pad processing conditions such as mixing time and hot molding pressure are found to affect pad swelling.

The dynamics of disc brakes, and in particular their NVH behavior, have long been the focus of research. Measurements by Rhee et al. show that brake pad wear has a significant influence on the occurrence of low and high frequency squealing [1]. It is suspected that low frequency squealing is more likely to occur when the wear difference between the inner and outer brake pads is high. If the two pads incur comparable wear, however, the prevalence of high frequency squealing increases. In order to investigate this hypothesis, this paper focuses on a simplified model of a commercial brake system. First, the friction force between the inner pad and the disc is iteratively adjusted, while the force between the outer pad and the disc is held constant. In a second step, the inner pad’s wear is iteratively increased, while the wear on the outer pad remains unaffected.

The influence of processing conditions on Low-Copper NAO disc pads were investigated as part of an effort to develop Low-Copper disc pad formulations as this kind of information is not readily available in open literature. Processing conditions as well as formulation modifications are found to influence friction, pad wear, disc wear and brake squeal. Low-Copper disc pads for pick-up trucks, equivalent to an OE pad, are developed. It is also found that brake squeal measured during the SAE J2522 (AK Master) Performance testing is related to the combined total wear rate of the disc plus the inner/outer pads or the disc wear rate alone, and that there is a threshold wear rate, above which brake squeal increases rapidly.

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.

The NVH behavior of disc brakes in particular, is in the focus of research since a long time. Measurements at a chassis dynamometer show that brake pad wear has a significant influence on the occurrence of low- and high-frequency squealing [1]. It is suspected that high-frequency squealing is more likely to occur when the wear difference between the inner and outer brake pad is small. In the other case, if the differential wear rate between the inner and outer pads becomes higher, the prevalence of low-frequency squealing increases. In order to examine this hypothesis, this work focuses on a simplified model of a commercial brake system [2]. In a first step, the inner pad’s wear is iteratively increased, while the wear on the outer pad remains unaffected. In a second step, the coefficient of friction at the worn pad is iteratively increased to investigate the influence on the low and high-frequency squealing.

Automotive brakes operate under varying conditions of speed and deceleration. In other words, the friction material is subjected to a wide range of normal loads and sliding speeds. One widely accepted test procedure to evaluate, compare and screen friction materials is the SAE J2522 Brake Effectiveness test, which requires full-size production brakes to be tested on an inertia brake dynamometer. For the current investigation, disc pads of two types of 10 different formulations (5 high-copper and 5 copper-free formulations) were prepared for testing on a front disc brake suitable for a pickup truck of GVW 3,200 kg. Each pad had 2 vertical slots, and one chamfer on the leading edge and also on the trailing edge of the pad. One segment of the test procedure looks at the coefficient of friction (Mu) under different brake line pressures and different sliding speeds to determine its stability or variability.

One low-copper formulation and one copper-free formulation were made into disc pads, and both of them were cured under 4 different conditions. These pads had no backing layer and no scorched layer. Pad thickness, dynamic modulus and natural frequencies were continuously monitored over a period of 12 months. After 12 months at room temperature, pad thickness, dynamic modulus and natural frequencies all increased to higher values. The low-copper formulation increased relatively rapidly during the first 60 days and the copper-free formulation increased relatively rapidly for the first 90 days, and then slowly thereafter. Two competing processes are found to be taking place simultaneously; internal stress relief leading to pad expansion and cross-linking of the resin leading to pad shrinkage. As the pad properties are changing continuously, the timing of property measurement becomes an important issue for quality assurance.

Heavy truck brake blocks are found to swell (or expand) permanently during testing or usage, especially so at high temperatures, thus leading to longer durability as measured by thickness loss, similar to light vehicle disc pads. This swelling phenomenon occurs continuously in the layer adjacent to the friction surface during testing or usage; not a one time event. The thickness loss estimated from the weight loss is always greater than measured thickness loss. Brake block wear does not increase linearly with increasing normal load, and the load-sensitivity of block wear is very much dependent on the products. A new test procedure has been developed for generating friction-vs.-temperature and wear-vs.-temperature data at a constant temperature employing intermittent braking on the Chase Brake Lining Quality Tester (SAE J661) and friction material wear can be compared on equivalent-work basis.

Rear disc brake squeal test results confirm the disc wear - brake squeal correlation reported earlier on front disc brakes. A significant amount of Fe transferred from the disc to the NAO pad surface is detected and the distribution of the transferred Fe is very non-uniform on the pad surface. The pad surface formulation reaches that of Low-Steel Lomets. Disc pads from a noisier brake retain more transferred particles than from a less noisy brake. The pad surface retains more transferred Fe after noise test procedures than after performance test procedures. The transferred Fe particles are either barely visible or invisible. During brake noise test procedures, discs wear in weight as much as disc pads. No correlation is found between average in-stop Mu, maximum in-stop Mu or in-stop delta Mu and brake squeal.