Design and manufacture of a friction coefficient testing device for performance evaluation of brake pads that can be used in different vehicles

Abstract

Brake pads are the most frequently replaced parts of vehicle brake systems. In addition to their resistance to rapid wear, resistance to disc-drum assembly damage, durability in liquid environments and resistance to sudden temperature changes, brake pads must also be manufactured according to national or international standards. To determine brake pad performance, they undergo various tests. The most important of these tests is the brake pad friction coefficient test, which determines the coefficient of friction. Various testing devices exist for measuring the coefficient of friction. These devices determine the friction force of brake pad samples subjected to load and calculate the coefficient of friction. Devices are divided into types such as pin-on, pad-on and dynamometers with different designs. In addition to facilitating decision-making for experiments on brake pads or devices planned for development, a new brake pad friction coefficient testing device has been designed and manufactured. Unlike other devices, the designed and manufactured device allows adjustment of the distance between samples to 190–300 mm and measures friction forces of samples with different geometric structures and dimensions, in addition to standard dimensions and shapes, within desired speed and load ranges. The friction coefficient is calculated using a programmable logic controller based on the applied load and friction force. The device screen displays the friction coefficient and temperature values graphically in real time. The device’s accuracy was compared with that of another test device used in this field, as reported in the literature. In the accuracy comparison, it was determined that the developed device operates with high accuracy.

Keywords

brake system brake pad friction of coefficient wear friction coefficient test device programming logic controller

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Kermc

Kalin

Vizintin

, et al. A reduced-scale testing machine for tribological evaluation of brake materials. Tribol Interface Eng Ser 2005; 48: 799–806. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-8922(05)80081-1

Day

. Braking of road vehicles. Elsevier Inc., 2014.

Banu Sugözü

Sugözü

Zile

, et al. The design and manufacturing of the test device of the friction coefficient for brake pads. In: III. Ege composite materials symposium with international participation, Türkiye, Kuşadası, İzmir, 5–7 November 2015, pp.5–7.

Bocii

. Influence of the brake disc friction surface dimension on the thermal regime of the disc brake of high-speed railway vehicles. Acta Technica Napocensis 2021; 64: 27–34.

Aras

. Investigation of the use of organic material based hybrid friction composites in pad production. PhD Thesis, The Graduate School of Natural and Applied Science of Selçuk University, Turkey, 2019.

Antonyraj

Singaravelu

. Tribological characterization of various solid lubricants based copper-free brake friction materials – a comprehensive study. Mater Today Proc 2019; 27: 2650–2656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.11.088

Binda

Oliveira

VDA

Fortulan

, et al. Friction elements based on phenolic resin and slate powder. J Mater Res Technol 2020; 9: 3378–3383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2020.01.032

Wei

Choy

Cheung

. A study of brake contact pairs under different friction conditions with respect to characteristics of brake pad surfaces. Tribol Int 2019; 138: 99–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2019.05.016

Jadhav

Sawant

. A review paper: development of novel friction material for vehicle brake pad application to minimize environmental and health issues. Mater Today Proc 2019; 19: 209–212. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2019.06.703

10.

Lyu

Leonardi

Wahlström

, et al. Friction, wear and airborne particle emission from Cu-free brake materials. Tribol Int 2020; 141: 105959. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2019.105959

11.

Joo

Chang

Seo

, et al. Effects of binder resin on tribological properties and particle emission of brake linings. Wear 2019; 434–435: 202995. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2019.202995

12.

Zhang

Wei

, et al. Adjusting function of MoS2 on the high-speed emergency braking properties of copper-based brake pad and the analysis of relevant tribo-film of eddy structure. Compos B Eng 2020; 185: 107779. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2020.107779

13.

Heussaff

Dubar

Tison

, et al. A methodology for the modelling of the variability of brake lining surfaces. Wear 2012; 289: 145–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2012.04.002

14.

Fan

Zhang

Cheng

, et al. Microstructure and frictional properties of C/SiC brake materials with sandwich structure. Ceram Int 2011; 37: 2829–2835. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2011.04.075

15.

Davin

Cristol

Brunel

, et al. Wear mechanisms alteration at braking interface through atmosphere modification. Wear 2019; 426–427: 1094–1101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2019.01.057

16.

Barros

Poletto

Neis

, et al. Influence of copper on automotive brake performance. Wear 2019; 426–427: 741–749. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2019.01.055

17.

Timur

. The determination of corosion resistance and thermal contact occuring as a result of frictions of automotive brake pads through automatic tests system. PhD Thesis, Trakya University Institute of Natural Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, Türkiye, 2014.

18.

Yin

Zhou

, et al. Superior wear resistance of boron phenolic resin-based composites using fluorine rubber micro powder as high-performance additive. Tribol Int 2020; 142: 106001. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2019.106001

19.

Marin

Daimon

Boschetto

, et al. Diagnostic spectroscopic tools for worn brake pad materials: a case study. Wear 2019; 432–433: 202969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2019.202969

20.

Kim

Joo

Jang

. The effect of contact area on velocity weakening of the friction coefficient and friction instability: a case study on brake friction materials. Tribol Int 2019; 135: 38–45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2019.02.034

21.

Chang

Joo

Lee

, et al. Size effect of tire rubber particles on tribological properties of brake friction materials. Wear 2018; 394–395: 80–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2017.10.004

22.

Neis

Ferreira

Fekete

, et al. Towards a better understanding of the structures existing on the surface of brake pads. Tribol Int 2017; 105: 135–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2016.09.033

23.

Aranganathan

Bijwe

. Development of copper-free eco-friendly brake-friction material using novel ingredients. Wear 2016; 352–353: 79–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2016.01.023

24.

Singh

Patnaik

Chauhan

. Optimization of tribological properties of cement kiln dust-filled brake pad using grey relation analysis. Mater Des 2016; 89: 1335–1342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2015.10.045

25.

Zhuang

, et al. Tribological and physio-mechanical characterization of cow dung fibers reinforced friction composites: an effective utilization of cow dung waste. Tribol Int 2019; 131: 200–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2018.10.026

26.

Liu

Wang

Liu

, et al. Evaluation of wear resistance of corn stalk fiber reinforced brake friction materials prepared by wet granulation. Wear 2019; 432–433: 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2019.05.033

27.

Sun

Zhou

. Effects of friction film mechanical properties on the tribological performance of ceramic enhanced resin matrix friction materials. J Mater Res Technol 2019; 8: 4705–4712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmrt.2019.08.016

28.

Tavangar

Moghadam

Khavandi

, et al. Comparison of dry sliding behavior and wear mechanism of low metallic and copper-free brake pads. Tribol Int 2020; 151: 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.triboint.2020.106416

29.

Fono-Tamo

Koya

. Influence of palm Kernel shell particle size on fade and recovery behaviour of non-asbestos organic friction material. Procedia Manuf 2017; 7: 440–451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2016.12.031

30.

Yavuz

. Effect of resin on friction performance and particle emissions in vehicle polymer brake pads composites. Polym Compos 2025; 46: 14862–14871. https://doi.org/10.1002/pc.30095

31.

Yavuz

Mertgenç

. Effect of graphite based solid lubricant on noise and braking performance in polymer composite brake friction materials. Ind Lubr Tribol 2026; 78: 373–381. https://doi.org/10.1108/ILT-08-2025-0394