Abstract
Natural fibers, like coconut shells, offer an eco-friendly and renewable alternative for brake pads, providing promising performance in terms of friction and durability. Research has shown that these reinforced materials can perform comparably to commercial options, particularly in areas such as wear resistance and mechanical stability. While many studies have focused on chemical and mechanical properties, there is still limited understanding of their impact on noise phenomena in braking systems. Further exploration is needed to evaluate their potential in reducing noise. Train noise pollution is a significant issue, largely due to vibrations and high-pitched sounds caused by friction in braking systems. This noise impacts passengers and arises from complex friction interactions where excess energy is converted into vibrations and sound. Advances in computing have enabled the application of the Finite Element Method to analyze these vibrations and their connection to noise phenomena in braking systems. This study proposes an iterative method to correlate brake component properties with instability parameters through finite element and complex eigenvalue analyses. The objective is to compare the performance of commercial and coconut shell-reinforced friction materials in mitigating brake squeal, with the aim of reducing vibrational instability and improving braking efficiency in train systems. The results demonstrate that the coconut shell-reinforced material outperforms the commercial material in reducing instability and noise across various parameters. The commercial material exhibits more unstable points and higher noise, while the reinforced material maintains better stability, lower noise, and more consistent performance in terms of friction, stiffness, and thickness variations. Overall, the reinforced material shows superior noise reduction and stability compared to the commercial option under the conditions studied.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.