The research presented in this paper is focused on understanding the influence of the exchange of three different particle size of silicon carbides in brake pads. The average diameter of the commercially used silicon carbide particles was 3 μm, 14 μm and 125 μm respectively, measured by a laser diffraction technique. The morphology was tested through the scanning electron microscopy equipment, the images show similar shapes between the carbides. To simulate a real condition of wear during the use, the brake pad with the 3 types of carbides was tested at an inertia brake dynamometer using a full scale car brake system. The wear effects at the disc rotor and the brake pad materials were tested ranging the temperature from 100 to 400 °C. The results showed that an increment of the silicon carbide particle size increased the total wear of the disc rotor. The test also showed a tendency to stabilize the disc wear by increasing the particle size from the intermediate size to the largest one. However, the brake pad wear showed an opposite correlation, as the particle size of the abrasive increased, the brake pad wear decreased. Temperature plays an important role in the wear phenomenon, as the temperature increases, there is a change in the wear rate between materials with different silicon carbides.

Thais Rodrigues Gomes, Chemical Engineer, Fras-le S.A.; Dr. Marcos Roberto Farias Soares, Fras-le; Prof. Dr. Carlos Pérez Bergmann, UFRGS