Frictional Characteristics of Brake Pad Materials Alternate to Asbestos

Nevertheless, asbestos though having ample physical and tribo-mechanical properties is being banned worldwide due to its health hazardousness. Most importantly, any material replacing asbestos should have comparable friction properties. This paper aims at comparative study of frictional characteristics of asbestos base and asbestos free brake pad materials. A total of three friction materials namely AF-22 (metallic based), CL-3003 (fine brass based) and DM-6 (asbestos based) were compressed and moulded into a sample. Experiments were performed using dedicated test set-up based on Pin-on-disc principle. Coefficient of friction was compared for three materials at different conditions of sliding velocity and pressure. Experiments were performed using Taguchi’s L27 orthogonal array. Ranking of the parameters have been done based on experimental results and S/N ratio analysis. The elemental composition of materials was measured by EDS technique. Scanning electron micrographs of brake pad samples were tested at different magnifications. Further investigations to evaluate wear rate, stopping distance under simulative test conditions are suggested.