Experimental study of the tribological behaviour of materials of brake disc and pads

The understanding of the physical mechanisms involved in sliding contact disc - pads requires an experimental simulation represented by the couple disc-pin, taking into consideration a number of parameters such as the nature of the material of the disc and the pin, the applied normal load, the sliding speed, the contact area and the environment. The objective of this study consists to realize an experimental simulation model of the couple disc - pads in order to understand the evolution of the thermal and tribological behaviour. The experimental results obtained by means of the tribometer SRV4 show that the normal load has a significant effect on the tribological behaviour of the brake materials. The wear rate varies according to the materials and the essay conditions. The humidity has no influence on the variation of the friction temperature. According to the carried tests, the chromium steel 100Cr6 is characterized by a friction coefficient and temperatures higher than the cast iron FG25.