Study of the grit particle size and shape effects on the frictional characteristics of the automotive braking system

In this work, particle shape analysis was performed using SPQ method with silica sand, garnet and silicon carbide of the same size range of 50-180 μm. It was found that silicon carbide grits with the highest SPQ value resulted in higher CoF in drag mode application. This is due to their angular shape contribution in generating more wear debris compared to silica sand and garnet particles. However, high SD values of CoF oscillation amplitude were recorded for both low and high SPQ values grit particles. It was also found that the area percentage and depth of GE were influenced by the particle angularity (i.e. SPQ value). Grit particles with higher SPQ values were embedding more easily, resulting in more fully embedded grits, especially during stop mode application. Surface roughness and grooves of the disc were also related to the grits SPQ values. However, garnet with less angular shape resulted in higher disc surface roughness (i.e. Ra value) compared to silicon carbide which produce narrow and deep grooves...