Development and Tribological Characterization of Semi-Metallic Brake pads for Automotive Applications

Semi-metallic brake pads are quite a good choice for performance-driven automotive industries, because of improved braking performance in a more comprehensive range of temperatures. In this study, a semi-metallic brake pad is fabricated through a powder metallurgy processing technique with two compositions of powders with a different weight ratio of Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), flash, Aluminum oxide (Al2O3), Barium sulfate (BaSO4), Phenolic resin, Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Graphite for automotive application. A well-distributed composition was indicated by the microstructure, which exhibited a uniform dispersion of hard particles throughout the matrix. BP-20Cu-20Fe specimen exhibited a high hardness value of 171Hv. Under higher loads of 70 N, the specimen BP-20Cu-20Fe showed excellent wear resistance, with a low wear rate of 1.072×10-6 g/Nm. On the other hand, specimen BP-20Cu-20Fe showed a notable 35% increase in friction coefficient when the load was increased from 30 N to 70 N.The surface morphology, elemental distribution, and worn surface features and characteristics are examined using advanced instrumental techniques.