Designing a Composite Material for Use in Brake Applications

Traditionally, automotive brake rotors are made with cast iron. Besides having economical advantage, cast iron rotor provides many disadvantages due to its weight, such as reduction in fuel efficiency, increase in green house gas emission, and increase in noise, vibration and hardness. With the development of commercial aluminum composites, composite brake rotors are now manufactured. However, the present commercial composite materials are not specifically made for brake application and there are drawbacks. A major drawback is their poor elevated temperature property. In this paper, the unique properties offered by an aluminum composite for brake application is addressed, and an approach to compensate its properties for brake application is highlighted.