Brass fillers in friction composite materials: Tribological and brake squeal characterization for suitable effect evaluation

In this paper, brake pad performance of two organic matrix composites namely, Sample 1 (contains no brass filler) and Sample 2 (contains 1.5% brass filler), is studied based on tribological and squeal noise behavior. In the first stage, a pin-on-disc tribometer is used to evaluate the frictional behavior of the two pads. On the following stage, these pads are tested on squeal noise occurrence using a drag-type brake dynamometer. From the two type of tests, the results show that; (i) brass fillers play a dual role; firstly as reinforcing element of the brake pad providing primary contact sites, and secondly as solid lubricant by contributing to the formation of a layer of granular material providing velocity accommodation between the pad and the disc; (ii) brass fillers contribute to friction force stabilization and smooth sliding behavior; (iii) the presence of small weight quantity of brass filler strongly contributes to squeal occurrences; (iv) there is close correlation between pin-on-disc tribometer and brake dynamometer tests in terms of tribological aspect.