Brake materials history in brief
Brake materials history in brief
With the development of automotive industry, and improving of material science, brake pad materials have gained much development according to the change of car speed and weight of the body. Brake pads have gone through a process of wood material, asbestos material, semi-metallic material, low-metallic material & ceramic material.
Woody material & Asbestos material have been eliminated, because of low heat tolerance or harmful dust.
The earliest chance that ceramic material be selected was for F1 car racing, because itÂ’s outstanding performance under high strength or extreme conditions. Generally, F1 divers can only overtake other competitors by delayed emergency braking before entering a curve. In these conditions, cars will come off the track, if the brakes material has any flaw. It is a violent situation for drivers, also an ordeal for the brake friction material. Finally, ceramic material stand the racket, gain its status & reputation, rely on the short stop distance, less fading, and minimal wear rate etc.
But for the cost reason, ceramic brake pads are not well accepted by market for a long time. However, along of the material tech become maturing, the ceramic brake pads price also getting down. It has been widely use in luxury cars.