EVALUATION OF POSSIBILITIES TO IMPROVE FUNCTIONALITY OF BRAKE PADS THROUGH MODIFICATION OF THE HEAT DISSIPATION METHOD

From a social perspective, providing motor vehicle users with high quality brake lining assemblies, which additionally help to prevent the braking system from overheating by dissipating heat into the atmosphere, is a matter of great importance. Overheated brakes may cause failure of the braking system and, as a result, lead to a car accident. Heat dissipation during operation helps to cool the braking system and prevent overheating. The article presents two patented brake pad structural solutions – anisotropic and ventilated brake pads – designed to boost the effectiveness of heat dissipation. The tests described in the article were performed using the T-33 inertia dynamometer developed at the Łukasiewicz – Institute for Sustainable Technologies in response to a demand presented by a Polish brake pad manufacturer. As part of the tests, various functional properties of the newly-designed and classic brake pads (i.e. the friction coefficient, the temperature of the brake pad, and the wear of the brake pad and brake disc) were compared. From the tests it follows that the new pads with the heat dissipation system have an advantage over classic pads, depending on the method of brake pad’s material and structural modification.