Disc brake

Close-up of a disc brake on a car

On automobiles, disc brakes are often located within the wheel

The disc brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a wheel. A brake disc (or rotor in U.S. English), usually made of cast iron or ceramic composites (including carbon, kevlar and silica), is connected to the wheel and/or the axle. To stop the wheel, friction material in the form of brake pads (mounted on a device called a brake caliper) is forced mechanically, hydraulically, pneumatically or electromagnetically against both sides of the disc. Friction causes the disc and attached wheel to slow or stop.

History

Disc-style brakes began in England in the 1890s; the first ever automobile disc brakes were patented by Frederick William Lanchester in his Birmingham factory in 1902, though it took another half century for his innovation to be widely adopted.

Modern-style disc brakes first appeared on the low-volume Crosley Hotshot in 1949, although they had to be discontinued in 1950 due to design problems. Chrysler's Imperial also offered a type of disc brake from 1949 through 1953, though in this instance they were enclosed with dual internal-expanding, full-circle pressure plates. Reliable modern disc brakes were developed in the UK by Dunlop and first appeared in 1953 on the Jaguar C-Type racing car. The Citroën DS of 1955, with powered inboard front disc brakes, and the 1956 Triumph TR3 were the first European production cars to feature modern disc brakes. The first production car to feature disc brakes at all 4 corners was the Austin-Healey 100S in 1954. The next American production cars to be fitted with disc brakes were the 1963 Studebaker Avanti (optional on other Studebaker models), standard equipment on the 1965 Rambler Marlin (optional on other AMC models), and the 1965 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray (C2).

These brakes offer better stopping performance than comparable drum brakes, including resistance to "brake fade" caused by the overheating of brake components, and are able to recover quickly from immersion (wet brakes are less effective). Unlike a drum brake, the disc brake has no self-servo effect and the braking force is always proportional to the pressure placed on the braking pedal or lever.

Many early implementations for automobiles located the brakes on the inboard side of the driveshaft, near the differential, but most brakes today are located inside the wheels. (An inboard location reduces the unsprung weight and eliminates a source of heat transfer to the tires, important in Formula One racing.)

Disc brakes were most popular on sports cars when they were first introduced, since these vehicles are more demanding about brake performance. Discs have now become the more common form in most passenger vehicles, although many (particularly light weight vehicles) use drum brakes on the rear wheels to keep costs and weight down as well as to simplify the provisions for a parking brake. As the front brakes perform most of the braking effort, this can be a reasonable compromise.

Discs

The design of the disc varies somewhat. Some are simply solid cast iron, but others are hollowed out with fins or vanes joining together the disc's two contact surfaces (usually included as part of a casting process). This "ventilated" disc design helps to dissipate the generated heat and is commonly used on the more-heavily-loaded front discs.

Many higher performance brakes have holes drilled through them. This is known as cross-drilling and was originally done in the 1960s on racing cars. Brake pads will outgas and under use may create boundary layer of gas between the pad and the disc hurting braking performance. Cross-drilling was created to provide the gas someplace to escape. Although modern brake pads seldom suffer from outgassing problems, water residue may build up after a vehicle passes through a puddle and impede braking performance. For this reason, and for heat dissipation purposes, cross drilling is still used on some braking components, but is not favored for racing or other hard use as the holes are a source of stress cracks under severe conditions.

Discs may also be slotted, where shallow channels are machined into the disc to aid in removing dust and gas. Slotting is the preferred method in most racing environments to remove gas, water, and de-glaze brake pads. Some discs are both drilled and slotted. Slotted discs are generally not used on standard vehicles because they quickly wear down brake pads; however, this removal of material is beneficial to race vehicles since it keeps the pads soft and avoids vitrification of their surfaces.

A Mountain Bike Disc brake

On the road, drilled or slotted discs still have a positive effect in wet conditions because the holes or slots prevent a film of water building up between the disc and the pads. Crossdrilled discs will eventually crack at the holes due to metal fatigue. Cross-drilled brakes that are manufactured poorly or subjected to high stresses will crack much sooner and more severely.

New technology now allows smaller brake systems to be fitted to bicycles, mopeds and now even mountain bikes. The market for mountain bike disc brakes is very large and has huge variety, ranging from simple, mechanical (cable) systems, to highly expensive and also powerful, 6-pot hydraulic disc systems, commonly used on downhill racing bikes. Improved technology has seen the creation of the first vented discs for use on mountain bikes. The vented discs are similar to that seen on cars and have been introduced to help prevent heat fade on fast alpine descents. First use of disc brakes on mountain bikes was the implementation of mechanical braking systems which did not offer solid braking power that is why disc brakes were not popular among mountain bikers until hydraulic disc brakes were presented.

Disc brake discs are commonly manufactured out of a material called grey iron. The SAE maintains a specification for the manufacture of grey iron for various applications. For normal car and light truck applications, the SAE specification is J431 G3000 (superseded to G10). This specification dictates the correct range of hardness, chemical composition, tensile strength, and other properties necessary for the intended use.

Historically, brake discs were manufactured throughout the world with a strong concentration in Europe, and America. Between 1989 and 2005, manufacturing of brake discs is migrating predominantly to China.

Racing

In racing and very high performance road cars, other disc materials have been employed. Reinforced carbon discs and pads inspired by aircraft braking systems were introduced in Formula One by Brabham in conjunction with Dunlop in 1976. Carbon-Carbon braking is now used in most top-level motorsport worldwide, reducing unsprung weight, giving better frictional performance and improved structural properties at high temperatures, compared to cast iron. Carbon brakes have occasionally been applied to road cars, by the French Venturi sports car manufacturer in the mid 1990s for example, but need to reach a very high operating temperature before becoming truly effective and so are not well suited to road use.

Ceramic composites

Ceramic discs are used occasionally in high-performance cars and heavy vehicles.

The first development of the modern ceramic brake was made by British Engineers working in the railway industry for TGV applications in 1988. The objective was to reduce weight, the number of brakes per axle, as well as provide stable friction from very high speeds and all temperatures. The result was a carbon fibre re-inforced ceramic process which is now used in various forms for automotive, railway, and aircraft brake applications.

Disc damage modes

Discs are usually damaged in one of three ways: warping, scarring, and cracking. A brake lathe will correct these problems and maximise the mileage out of the current discs on the vehicle. Disc manufacturers and garages will change discs as they believe it is usually cheaper just to replace the disc instead of repairing the parts - brake discs should only be changed once they have reached manufacturers minimum thickness and it is unsafe to use them. If they are changed before this point then the vehicle owner isn't getting value for money.

Warping

Warping is often caused by excessive heat. When the disc's friction area is at a substantially higher temperature than the inner portion (hat) the thermal expansion of the friction area is greater than the inner portion and warping occurs. This can be avoided by using "floating" rotors which decouple the friction area from the inner portion and allow thermal expansion to occur at different rates. The main causes of overheating are: undersized/overmachined brake discs, excessive braking (racing, descending hills/mountains), "riding" the brakes, or a "stuck" brake pad (pad touches disc at all times).

Measuring warping is accomplished using a dial indicator on a fixed rigid base, with the tip perpendicular to the brake rotor's face. It is typically measured about 1/2" (12mm) from the outside diameter of the rotor. The rotor is spun. The difference between minimum and maximum value on the dial is called lateral runout. Typical hub/rotor assembly runout specifications for passenger vehicles are around 0.0020" or 50.8 microns. Runout can be caused either by deformation of the disc itself or by runout in the underlying wheel hub face or by contamination between the rotor surface and the underlying hub. Determining the root cause of the indicator displacement (lateral runout) requires disassembly of the rotor from the hub. Rotor face runout due to hub face runout or contamination will typically have a period of 1 minimum and 1 maximum per revolution of the brake rotor.

Another cause of warping is when the disc is overheated and the vehicle is stopped. When keeping the brakes applied, the area where the pads contact the disc will cause uneven cooling and lead to warping.

Incorrect fitting also leads to many cases of warping; the disc's retaining bolts (or the wheel/lug nuts, if the disc is simply sandwiched in place by the wheel, as on many cars) must be tightened progressively and evenly. The use of air tools to fasten lug nuts is extremely bad practice, unless a torque tube is also used.

Several methods can be used to avoid overheating brake discs. Use of a lower gear when descending steep grades to obtain engine braking will reduce the brake loading. Also, operating the brakes intermittently - braking to slower speed for a brief time then coasting will allow the brake material to cool between applications. Riding the brakes lightly will generate a great amount of heat with little braking effect and should be avoided. High temperature conditions as found in automobile racing can be dealt with by proper pad selection, but at the tradeoff of everyday driveability. Pads that can take high heat usually do best when hot and will have reduced braking force when cold. Also, high heat pads typically have more aggressive compounds and will wear discs down more quickly. Brake ducting that forces air directly onto the brake discs, common in motorsports, is highly effective at preventing brake overheating. This is also useful for cars that are driven both in motorsports and on the street, as it has no negative effect on driveability. A further extension of this method is to install a system which mists the discs with water. Jaguar has reported great reductions in disc temperatures with such a system.

Warping can also be caused by improperly torquing the lug nuts when putting on a wheel. The manual will indicate the proper pattern for tightening as well as a torque rating for the bolts. The tightening pattern varies little between manufacturers and most mechanics are familiar with them. Lug nuts should never be tightened in a circle. Some vehicles are sensitive to the force the bolts apply and tightening should be done with a torque wrench.

Warping will often lead to a thickness variation of the disc. If it has runout, a thin spot will develop by the repetitive contact of the pad against the high spot as the disc turns. When the thin section of the disc passes under the pads, the pads move together and the brake pedal will drop slightly. When the thicker section of the disc passes between the pads, the pads will move apart and the brake pedal will raise slightly, this is pedal pulsation. The thickness variation can be felt by the driver when it is approximately 0.17 mm or greater (on automobile rotors).

Not all pedal pulsation is due to warped discs. Brake pad material operating outside of its designed temperature range can leave a thicker than normal deposit in one area of the disc surface, creating run-out due to a "sticky" or "hotspot" that will grab with every revolution of the disc. Grease or other foreign materials can create a slippery spot on the disc, also creating pulsation.

Scarring

Scarring (US: Scoring) can occur if brake pads are not changed promptly when worn out. Once enough of the friction material has worn away, the pad's steel backing plate (for glued pads) or the pad retainer rivets (for riveted pads) will bear directly upon the rotor's wear surface, reducing braking power and making scratches on the disc. If not excessive, this can be repaired by machining off a layer of the disc's surface. This can only be done a limited number of times as the disc has a minimum rated safe thickness. For this reason it is prudent to periodically inspect the brake pads for wear (this is done simply on a vehicle lift when the tires are rotated without disassembly of the components; on some vehicles the pads can be visually inspected with the vehicle at rest through the wheel cooling slots or openings). When practical, they should be replaced before the pad is completely worn.

Generally a moderately scarred / scored rotor, which operated satisfactorily with existing brake pads, will be equally usable with new pads.

Cracking

Cracking is limited mostly to drilled discs, which get small cracks around outside edges of the drilled holes near the edge of the disc due to the disc's uneven rate of expansion in severe duty environments. In the main small hairline cracks will appear in all cross drilled discs, this is normal. Manufacturers that use drilled discs as OEM are doing so for two reasons: looks, if they determine that the average owner of the vehicle model will not overly stress them; or as a function of reducing the unsprung weight of the brake assembly, with the engineering assumed that enough brake disc mass remains to absorb racing temperatures and stresses. A brake disc is a heat sink, so removing mass increases the heat stress it will have to contend with. Generally an OEM application that is drilled will crack somewhat and could fail catastrophically if used over and above the original equipment design. Once cracked, these discs cannot be repaired.

Calipers

Disc brake calliper (twin-pot) removed from brake pad for changing pads

The brake caliper is the assembly which houses the brake pads and pistons. The pistons are usually made of aluminum or chrome-plated steel. There are two types of calipers: floating or fixed. A fixed caliper does not move relative to the disc. It uses one or more pairs of opposing pistons to clamp from each side of the disc, and is more complex and expensive than a floating caliper. A floating caliper (also called a "sliding caliper") moves with respect to the disc, along a line parallel to the axis of rotation of the disc; a piston on one side of the disc pushes the inner brake pad until it makes contact with the braking surface, then pulls the caliper body with the outer brake pad so pressure is applied to both sides of the disc.

Floating caliper (single piston) designs are subject to failure due to sticking which can occur due to dirt or corrosion if the vehicle is not operated regularly. This can cause the pad attached to the caliper to rub on the disc when the brake is released. This can reduce fuel effiency and cause excessive wear on the affected pad. Additional heat generated by the constantly rubbing pad can lead to warping of the disc also.

Types of brake calipers are also used on bicycle rim brakes.

Pistons and cylinders

The most common caliper design uses a single hydraulically actuated piston within a cylinder, although high performance brakes use as many as twelve. Modern cars use different hydraulic circuits to actuate the brakes on each set of wheels as a safety measure. The hydraulic design also helps multiply braking force. The number of pistons in a caliper is often referred to as the number of 'pots', so if a vehicle has 'six pot' calipers it means that each caliper houses six pistons.

Failure can occur due to failure of the piston to retract - this is usually a consequence of not operating the vehicle during a time that it is stored outdoors in adverse conditions. On high mileage vehicles the piston seals may leak, which must be promptly corrected.

Brake pads

The brake pads are designed for high friction with brake pad material embedded in the disc in the process of bedding while wearing evenly. Although it is commonly thought that the pad material contacts the metal of the disc to stop the car, the pads work with a very thin layer of their own material and generate a semi-liquid friction boundary that creates the actual braking force. Of course, depending on the properties of the material, disc wear rates may vary. The properties that determine material wear involve trade-offs between performance and longevity.

The brake pads must usually be replaced regularly (depending on pad material), and most are equipped with a method of alerting the driver when this needs to take place. Some have a thin piece of soft metal that causes the brakes to squeal when the pads are too thin, while others have a soft metal tab embedded in the pad material that closes an electric circuit and lights a warning light when the brake pad gets thin. More expensive cars may use an electronic sensor.

Although almost all road-going vehicles have only two brake pads per caliper, racing calipers utilize up to six pads, with varying frictional properties in a staggered pattern for optimum performance.

Early brake pads (and linings) contained asbestos. When working on an older car's brakes, care must be taken not to inhale any dust present on the caliper (or drum).

Brake squeal

Sometimes a loud noise or high pitch squeal occurs when the brakes are applied. Most brake squeal is produced by vibration (resonance instability) of the brake components, especially the pads and discs (known as “force-coupled excitation”.) This type of squeal should not negatively affect brake stopping performance. Simple techniques like adding chamfers to linings, greasing or gluing the contact between caliper and the pads (finger to backplate, piston to backplate), bonding insulators (damping material) to pad backplate, inclusion of a brake shim between the brake pad and back plate etc, may help to reduce squeal. Cold weather combined with high early morning humidity (dew) often makes brake-squeal worse, although the squeal stops when the lining reaches regular operating temperatures. However, some lining wear indicators are also designed to squeal when the lining is due for replacement. Overall brake squeal can be annoying to the vehicle passengers, passerby, pedestrians, etc especially as vehicles are designed to be more comfortable and quieter. Hence vehicle NVH (Noise, Vibration and Harshness) is one of the important priorities for today's vehicle manufacturers.

An age-old trick is to put a small amount of copper slip (copper grease) onto the back of the pads where they contact the brake caliper piston and on the pad shims, if present. While this will normally stop the squeal, getting grease on the pads or disks will affect braking performance.

Dust on the brakes may also cause squeal; there are many commercial brake cleaning products that can be used to remove dust and contaminants from the brakes.

Some mid-performance brake pads, such as PFC pads (which have many debond issues), will always squeal during operation, and this does not indicate a problem.

Apart from noise generated from squeal, brakes may also develop a phenomenon called brake judder or shudder.

Brake judder

Brake judder is usually perceived by the driver as minor to severe vibrations transferred through the chassis during braking.

The judder phenomenon can be classified into two distinct subgroups; they are Hot (Thermal) or Cold Judder.

Hot judder is usually produced as a result of longer more moderate braking from high speed where the vehicle does not come to a complete stop. It commonly occurs when a motorist decelerates from speeds of around 120 km/h to about 60 km/h, which results in severe vibrations being transmitted to the driver. These vibrations are the result of uneven thermal distributions believed to be the result of phenomena called Hot Spots. Hot Spots are classified as concentrated thermal regions that alternate between both sides of a disc that distort it in such a way that produces a sinusoidal waviness around its edges. Once the brake pads (friction material / brake lining) comes in contact with the sinusoidal surface during braking severe vibrations are induced as a result and can produce hazardous conditions for the person driving the vehicle.

Cold judder on the other hand is the result of uneven disc wear patterns or DTV. These variations in the disc surface are usually the result of extensive vehicle road usage. DTV is usually attributed to the following causes: waviness of rotor surface, misalignment of axis (Runout), elastic deflection, thermal distortion, wear and friction material transfers.

Brake dust

When braking force is applied, small amounts of material are gradually ground off the brake pads. This material is known as "brake dust" and a fair amount of it usually deposits itself on the braking system and the surrounding wheel. Brake dust can badly damage the finish of most wheels if not washed off. Different brake pad formulations create different amounts of dust, and some formulations are much more damaging than others. This applies to the use of metallic brake pads. Ceramic brake pads contain significantly fewer metal particles in them, and therefore produce less corrosion of surrounding metal parts.

Patents

• US 2746575  Kinchin Disc brakes for road and other vehicles 1956-05-22
• US 2591793  Dubois Device for adjusting the return travel of fluid actuated means 1952-04-08
• US 2544849  Martin Hydraulic brake automatic adjuster 1951-03-13
• US 2485032  Bryant Brake apparatus 1949-10-08
• US 2466990  Johnson Wade C, Trishman Harry A, Stratton Edgar H. Single disk brake 1949-04-12
• US 2416091  Fitch Fluid pressure control mechanism 1947-02-12
• US 2405219  Lambert Homer T. Disk brake 1946-08-06
• US 2375855  Lambert Homer T. Multiple disk brake 1945-05-15
• US 2366093  Forbes Joseph A. Brake 1944-12-26
• US 2140752  La Brie Brake 1938-12-20
• US 2084216  Poage Robert A. and Poage Marlin Z. V-type brake for motor vehicles 1937-06-15
• US 2028488  Avery William Leicester Brake 1936-02-21
• US 1959049  Buus Niels Peter Valdemar Friction Brake 1934-05-15
• US 1954534  Norton Raymond J. Brake 1934-04-10
• US 1721370  Boughton Edward Bishop Brake for use on vehicles 1929-07-16
• DE 695921  Borgwar Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Antriebsvorrichtung mit hydraulischem Gestaenge... 1940-09-06
• GB 377478  Hall Frederick Harold Improvements in wheel cylinders for hydraulic brakes 1932-07-28
• GB 365069  Rubury John Meredith Improvements in control gear for hydraulically operated devices and particularly brakes for vehicles 1932-01-06.

See also

• Brake lining

External links

• Using Ceramics, Brakes Are Light but Cost Is Heavy
• Disc brake pads Free video content from CDX eTextbook