INVESTIGATION OF ULEXITE USAGE IN AUTOMOTIVE BRAKE FRICTION MATERIALS

Abstract

The automotive brake pads are multi-component composites made up of many materials. There are many studies in the literature exploring the use of many different materialsin brake pads. In this study, the use of ulexite which is a commercially valuable derivatives of boron that 65% of the total world reservations exists in Turkey were researched for brake pad material. For this purpose, three brake pad specimens containingulexite differing in amount (3, 6 and 9 wt.%) were produced by a conventional procedure for a dry formulation following dry-mixing, pre-forming and hot pressing. The density of the specimens was determined based on Archimedes principle in water. The surface hardness of all brake pad specimens was measured using Rockwell hardness tester. The friction performance of the brake pad specimens was determined using a real brake disc-type tester with grey cast iron. The weights of each specimen were taken before and after the friction test, and the specific wear ratewas determined in accordance to the TSE 555 (1992) standard. The results showed that all specimens are applicable to the industry, consistent with the literature and suitable to the TS 555 standard.Also,the results indicated that ulexite is an ideal material for brake pads.