Studies on reduced scale tribometer to investigate the effects of metal additives on friction coefficient – Temperature sensitivity in brake materials

Standard methods practiced by the industry to evaluate performance of friction materials need huge infrastructure, manpower and time. It is necessary for researchers working in this applied field to develop a different approach to screen the potential of friction materials on reduced scale prototype (RSP) which would rank the materials based on performance. In this paper a new test methodology is reported to study the influence of metallic contents on temperature sensitivity of friction composites on RSP. Three friction composites were developed with identical parent composition (90% by wt.) except metallic filler viz. brass, copper and iron powder (10% by wt.). One more was developed without metallic powder by adjusting 10% amount with barite (space filler). All composites were characterized for physical, chemical and mechanical properties. These were tribo-tested on RSP for friction, wear, fade and recovery behavior as per new test methodology. It was concluded that with use of metal contents, friction and wear performance of composites improved in general. Copper containing composite showed best friction and wear behavior followed brass, while iron powder based composite showed moderate behavior. Thus new test methodology proved very effective to rank the performance of friction composites.