LAUSR

Abstract Despite the environmental concerns, very few successful attempts are reported for Cu-free Friction materials. To demonstrate the effect of replacement of copper in the brake-pad friction material on noise and vibration (NV) performance, no systematic study is yet reported. Recently, we have developed a series of brake-pads containing 3 vol % of particles of copper and four types of stainless steel as the theme ingredients and the tribo-performance of these pads have been carried out. The present work focusses on detailed experimental investigations on a NV rig (SAE J2521 standard) using the noise and vibration signals for the evaluation of the NV performance of these pads. The brake-pads are made of different stainless steel particles (SSP) and their comparative NV performance is benchmarked against that with the copper based brake-pad. No significant difference in brake-noise level for SSP and Cu particles-based pads was observed. Although the copper based pad showed lower creep groan severity, some stainless steel particles (SS 410 and SS 434) based pads showed lowest average RMS vibrations compared to the copper based pads. As there was a marginal difference in the NV performance of pads, some stainless steel particles can be suitable choices in Cu-free pads.