Effects of ingredients on tribological characteristics of a brake lining: an experimental case study

A brake lining containing 16 ingredients was investigated to study the effect of ingredients on various aspects of friction properties. The composite was developed for a non-asbestos organic based friction material for an automotive brake system and contained typical ingredients for commercial brake friction materials. Based on a basic formulation, 32 different friction material specimens were produced according to an experimental design. The influence of the ingredients on wear rate, fade (loss of friction), friction-induced vibration, and noise propensity was examined using a scaled friction tester. This investigation confirmed that the specimen with high porosity and compressibility had low noise propensity. Results also showed that the friction materials with higher contents of phenolic resin, rockwool, zirconium silicate (zircon), MgO, and Ca(OH)2 had high noise propensity and cashew resin reduced the noise occurrence. Wear resistance of the friction material was strongly affected by the relative amounts of magnesia, rockwool, calcium hydroxide, and zirconium silicate.