Brake discs play a significant role in converting the vehicle’s kinetic energy into heat energy that is dissipated through conduction and convection. The automotive industry has been looking for many years to develop lightweight brake discs to reduce vehicle weight and subsequently improve fuel efficiency. In addition, the reduction of particulate emissions from the braking system is becoming a target, not least due to the more stringent emission regulations worldwide. In recent years, metal matrix composite (MMC) coatings for rotors have been reported to be a sustainable solution for those issues. Besides technological issues, the problem of a reproducible, cost-efficient coating and finishing process has not been solved so far. WECODUR® offers a way out of this dilemma and presents a turnkey solution for the integrated high-speed laser cladding and grinding coated brake discs. The presentation will give detailed insights into the technology of both, cladding and grinding as well as into the consequent quality assurance strategy for a automotive serial production. Test bench result for brake performance and NVH Behavior will be presented along with a cost break down for series production.

Aachen University: Prof. Dr.-Ing Johannes Schleifenbaum; HPL Technologies GmbH: Dr.-Ing. Phillip Utsch, Dipl.Ing. Dominik Dobrzanski