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For road safety, braking system performance has become a very important requirement for car vehicle manufacturers and passengers. To this end, vehicle designers must understand the characteristics of tribological behavior and the causes of their variation in properties. This paper analyzes the tribological behavior (at friction and wear) of the most recent material couples of the braking disk-pad system affected by their structural change through the implications on the braking system stability, reliability and suitable characterizations. Obtaining information to design a very efficient braking system and assessing the influence of the material’s structural changes on its stability has become a necessity. This has been made possible by using several methods of testing a brake disk-pad couple on various devices intended for this purpose. The materials of the contact surface disk-brake pad with their tribological performance (friction, wear), especially the friction coefficient, present particular importance. Also, system components’ reliability, heat transfer and the noise and vibration of the brake disk-pad couple are vital to the correct operation of the braking system and should be given special attention. The test results obtained define the friction patterns and the influence of structural changes and other environmental factors that can be used in computer analysis.

The structural design of the brake disc of urban rail trains, especially the design of the heat dissipation rib structure, affects the heat dissipation performance of the brake disc. Unreasonable design can lead to poor heat dissipation performance and generate energy consumption caused by large air-pumping resistance. However, the current structural design method for brake discs does not consider material characteristics and continues with materials such as steel and iron. There is no long-term service performance testing applicable to brake disc service conditions for lightweight and high-strength materials such as aluminum matrix composites. In addition, there is no comprehensive and systematic analysis of the structural design of cooling ribs. Therefore, a structure of SiCp/A356 brake discs for urban rail trains was designed in this work. Different from the previous design method, long-term performance testing of materials was conducted first, and then the heat dissipation performance and energy loss performance of different cooling rib structures were systematically analyzed to select the appropriate cooling rib structure. Based on long-term performance testing results, cooling rib optimization, and material forming process, a new brake disc structure was designed. The thermal-fluid–solid multi-field coupling simulation was conducted on the new structure brake disc under emergency braking and full round-trip conditions, and bench tests were conducted to verify the reliability of the simulation. Based on comprehensive simulation and bench test results, the new structure SiCp/A356 brake disc meets the established operating conditions. This design method considers material properties, multi-field coupling simulation, and engineering practice, which can a provide reference for the design of other brake discs and has high engineering application value.

The friction, wear and particle emission from an AlSiC MMC brake disc/non-asbestos organic brake pad system is studied using a pin-on-disc tribometer. The results show that this unconventional AlSiC MMC brake disc system presents friction performance as good as a conventional cast iron brake disc system. During braking, brake pad materials are transferred to the brake disc surface to form a protective third body tribo-layer, resulting in a negative specific wear rate of the brake disc. A higher contact load is likely to make it easier to generate the tribo-layer. The tribo-layer also seems to depend on the disc surface grinding features and the contact temperature during braking. By reusing an AlSiC MMC disc where the tribo-layer is already formed, the airborne emission in terms of mass is about 50% lower and in terms of number about the same as the conventional brake contact pair under a similar braking condition. Further full-scale studies are suggested to determine the validity of the findings.

The article presents the state of knowledge and research in the field of surface cracks occurring in disc braking systems of rail and car vehicles. The craze formed during the operation of vehicles is particularly dangerous and leads to breaking the disc into several pieces. It may lead to a loss of braking force and damage to the entire disc brake caliper. The main aim of the research is to identify surface cracks in brake discs made of cast iron and use experimental methods to estimate their depth. Research were conducted on the disc braking system developed by the authors. In examining the location and depth of cracks, the penetration method, ultrasound, as well as a special probe were used. This device measures the crack depth based on the electrical resistance between two points on the surface of the metallic object. The tests showed that the first microcracks on the brake discs appeared after 309 braking tests on the test stand. In addition, it was observed that the surface cracks length of the disc increased linearly to depth until they reached about 11.5–12 mm with corresponded to crack lengths in the range of 65–70 mm. However, determination of the regression functions presented in the article allows to estimate the depth of surface cracks up to 70 mm long on cast iron brake discs by measuring their length.

Recently, environmental concerns have initiated intensive research and development in the field of friction brake systems with the aim to minimize particle emission. First brake systems with thermally sprayed protective coatings applied to grey cast iron brake disks have been introduced in automotive industries and have proven to strongly reduce particle emission. However, there is a desire to use materials that show improved environmental compatibility and lower price using processes that permit improved performance of protective coatings with reduced production costs. Different approaches concerning the choice of base and coating materials as well as the production processes are discussed with respect to technological, economic and ecological aspects. Besides grey cast iron, aluminum alloys are considered as base materials. Regarding coating production, HVOF spraying and laser cladding offer specific advantages and recent progress concerning the expansion of their production rate limitations is presented. Finally, novel feedstock materials that show excellent compatibility with stainless steel and aluminum alloy matrices have been developed and applied for coating production.

A new approach to numerical simulation using the finite element method (FEM) for the rotational motion of discs for railway vehicle disc brake systems was proposed. For this purpose, spatial models of transient heating due to the friction of such systems with solid and ventilated discs were developed. The performed calculations and the results obtained allowed justification of the possibility of simplifying the shape of the ventilated brake disc through elimination of ventilation channels. This contributes to a significant reduction in computational time, without compromising the accuracy of the results. The spatial and temporal temperature distributions in the ventilated and the solid disc of the same mass were analyzed. The share of energy dissipated due to convection and thermal radiation to the environment in relation to the total work done during a single braking was investigated. The maximum temperature values found as a result of computer simulations were consistent with the corresponding experimental results.

Road transport and the associated fuel consumption plays a primary role in emissions. Weight reduction is critical to reaching the targeted reduction of 34% in 2025. Weight reduction in moving parts, such as pistons and brake disc rotors, provide a high-impact route to achieve this goal. The current study aims to investigate the formability of Al–Si alloys reinforced with different fractions and different sizes of SiCp to create an efficient and lightweight Al-MMC brake disk. Lanthanum (La) and cerium (Ce) were added to strengthen the aluminium matrix alloy and to improve the capability of the Al-MMC brake discs to withstand elevated temperature conditions, such as more extended braking periods. La and Ce formed intermetallic phases that further strengthened the composite. The analysis showed the processability and thermal stability of the different material’s combinations: increased particle sizes and broader size range mixture supported the formation of the SiCp particle interactions, acting as an internal scaffolding. In conclusion, the additions of Ce and La strengthened the softer matrix regions and resulted in a doubled compression peak strength of the material without affecting the formability, as demonstrated by the processing maps.

Gray cast iron (GCI) is a popular automotive brake disc material by virtue of its high melting point as well as excellent heat storage and damping capability. GCI is also attractive because of its good castability and machinability, combined with its cost-effectiveness. Although several lightweight alloys have been explored as alternatives in an attempt to achieve weight reduction, their widespread use has been limited by low melting point and high inherent costs. Therefore, GCI is still the preferred material for brake discs due to its robust performance. However, poor corrosion resistance and excessive wear of brake disc material during service continue to be areas of concern, with the latter leading to brake emissions in the form of dust and particulate matter that have adverse effects on human health. With the exhaust emission norms becoming increasingly stringent, it is important to address the problem of brake disc wear without compromising the braking performance of the material. Surface treatment of GCI brake discs in the form of a suitable coating represents a promising solution to this problem. This paper reviews the different coating technologies and materials that have been traditionally used and examines the prospects of some emergent thermal spray technologies, along with the industrial implications of adopting them for brake disc applications.

A binary C/C brake disc (i.e., the test brake disc) was prepared with a C/C (pyrolytic carbon/resin carbon) matrix using modified natural gas as the carbon source through the isothermal chemical vapor infiltration (ICVI) process with a directed flow and the pressure impregnation carbonization (PIC) process with liquid-phase furfural acetone resin. The microstructural, mechanical, thermal, friction and wear properties of the test brake disc were comprehensively analyzed and compared with commercial ones. The results showed that the production efficiency of the test brake disc was 36% higher than that of the commercial ones, which were manufactured through a thermal-gradient chemical vapor infiltration (TCVI) process. The favorable mechanical and thermal properties of the test brake disc were comparable to the commercial ones. While the test brake disc had a more consistently rough laminar microstructure on the worn surface of the brake disc than the commercial ones, this avoided the annular grinding grooves on the worn surface after the braking tests. In addition, the test brake disc had a stable friction coefficient with a low dispersion coefficient of 3.90%, which would improve the friction stability of C/C brake discs used in aircrafts.

A comprehensive modeling strategy for studying the thermomechanical tribological behaviors is proposed in this work. The wear degradation considering the influence of temperature ( T ) is predicted by Archard wear model with the help of the UMESHMOTION subroutine and arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) remeshing technique. Adopting the proposed method, the thermomechanical tribological behaviors of railway vehicle disc brake system composed of forged steel brake disc and Cu-based powder metallurgy (PM) friction block are studied systematically. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is validated by experimental test on a self-designed scaled brake test bench from the perspectives of interface temperature, wear degradation, friction noise and vibration, and contact status evolution. This work can provide an effective way for the investigation of thermomechanical tribological behaviors in the engineering field.