A study of airborne wear particles generated from organic railway brake pads and brake discs

Brake pads on wheel-mounted disc brakes are often used in rail transport due to their good thermal properties and robustness. During braking, both the disc and the pads are worn. This wear process generates particles that may become airborne and thus affect human health. The long term purpose of ‘Airborne particles in Rail transport’ project is to gain knowledge on the wear mechanisms in order to find means of controlling the number and size distribution of airborne particles. In this regard, a series of full-scale field tests and laboratory tests with a pin-on-disc machine have been conducted. The morphology and the matter of particles, along with their size distribution and concentration, have been studied. The validity of results from the pin-on-disc simulation has been verified by the field test results. Results show an ultra-fine peak for particles with a diameter size around 100 nm in diameter, a dominant fine peak for particles with a size of around 350 nm in diameter, and a coarse peak with a size of 3–7 μm in diameter. Materials such as iron, copper, aluminum, chromium, cobalt, antimony, and zinc have been detected in the nano-sized particles.