Abstract
Since the triumphal march of the automobile in the middle of the 20th century the function of locomotion has long become overlapped with the requirements for individualisation, auton-omy and automotive driving enjoyment. The continuing demand for higher performance im-pressively illustrates this progression. Nonetheless the automotive industry also reacted to to-day’s ecological and climate discussions with environmentally friendly vehicle concepts.
The need for a reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions as well as the energy utilisa-tion in everyday driving situations have strongly influenced current trends for development. Consequently this leads to weight-optimised designs and the use of lightweight materials. Even though any weight optimizations of the brake system have to be evaluated carefully re-garding driver security, possibilities for weight reduction still exist. Besides conventional foundation brake systems, hybrid vehicles and especially energy recovery systems will also have their impact on brake systems.
Starting from current brake power needs, this paper sheds some light on the different driving scenarios. With the weight proportion of mayor brake components illustrated, a weight com-parison and specification of nominated brake systems is shown and possibilities for optimiza-tion are discussed. Based on an in depth analysis and simulation of different driving condi-tions using energy recovery supported friction brakes the future demands for the development of low emission brake systems are shown.
In order to lower total vehicle emissions, the automobile industry has undertaken substantial measures in the last decades. Regarding the brake system, the mayor emission is brake dust. Even though the generation of brake dust is unavoidable with the friction brake, the most ef-fective method to reduce dust emission is to avoid wear. Based on mojacar endurance simula-tions, a regenerative friction principle is proposed, which allows a clearly improved energy usage over the entire service life. It is shown that by means of a self generated protective layer, excessive wear can be avoided at the same time significantly improving service life of brake pad and disc. This brake pad technology is paving the way for further improvements through adapted designs allowing further weight savings.
Keywords: brake pads, wear, weight reduction, hybrid braking