Low-copper brake pads cut weight and beat legislation 07 October 2014

Federal-Mogul says its new range of low-copper and copper-free brake pads for heavy-duty vehicles (launched at this year's IAA Commercial Vehicle show, in Hanover) will put OEMs ahead of the legislation curve.

Marcus Morbach, Federal-Mogul development manager, explains that the new pads build on the firm's success wth its existing Eco-Friction pads for light vehicles.

He also says that the new formulations meet forthcoming environmental legislations without compromising pad performance, and allow OEMs to satisfy all markets with a single specification.

"We ... followed a similar development process, but the actual material formulations are quite different for heavy-duty applications," states Morbach.

"Light-duty concerns include comfort and convenience factors such as brake noise and dust generation. With heavy commercial vehicles, safety and temperature issues predominate because the pad temperatures are much higher, so resistance to disc cracking is an important parameter."

The maximum pad temperatures experienced on light vehicles are 500 - 600°C, whereas a heavily laden truck descending a long gradient may generate temperatures up to 1,000°C, he warns.

Direct comparison testing on articulated trucks has shown that the new pads withstand the effects of high temperature, he says, meeting or exceeding the service life of conventional pad materials.

Because no single raw material provides a direct replacement for copper, Federal-Mogul used a process termed 'tribological fingerprinting' to assess the range of elements that might be used as alternatives.

The result was a combination of raw materials that replaces the copper and still exceeds manufacturers' brake performance and durability requirements.

The new pads have been validated for friction, wear, noise and their effect on disc life for both truck and trailer applications in extensive field trials.

"Federal-Mogul's materials expertise is allowing its customers to introduce brake pads well in advance of legislative requirements, further improving their vehicles' environmental performance and eliminating the need to replace materials later in the vehicle product lifecycles," cmments Holger Schaus, director global OE engineering braking, Federal-Mogul.

Federal-Mogul will commence series production of its new material pads later this year of pads with less than 5 percent copper for heavy-duty applications, while samples with under 0.5 percent will be undergoing evaluation by customers.

Author
Brian Tinham

Related Companies
Federal Mogul Ltd

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