Composite Breaking Pad

Created by: Edwarddo Aprilian Sulistyo Mechanical Engineering of Gadjah Mada University

Vehicle requires a mechanism to decelerate or even to stop its movement. This mechanism is essential in order to obey the rules of safety. Unfortunately the rules of safety force the automotive manufacture to understand the meaning of safety first. Safety means some requirements that are needed in order to make the driver and the passenger safe. These requirements contain not only fast but smooth to stop a vehicle. The speed of a normal motorcycle of 125 cc cylinder machine is topped about 115 kmh. At 115 kmh, the motorcycle needs a mechanism to stop but smooth that the rider do not get thrown away because of the breaking mechanism but surely stop for a short time. The manufacturers understand this consequences, thus with some modification and engineered method, they produce a breaking mechanism that involve the breaking force and breaking pad. The breaking force involve the nature of the riders themselves, yet the breaking pad is totally dependent to the manufacturers and scientists. A good breaking pad must obey the rule of energy. Some must be wondering where the energy, that being used, is going to. They go away as a form of energy called heat. The breaking pad material has to be good conductor of heat due to that energy exchange. The best material that conduct heat well enough is metal. On the other hand, a breaking pad needs a bite to the breaking ring. This bite is usually called coefficient of friction. To get it done, the breaking pad should have a good friction by making the surface rough enough, or another method is choosing a good friction material. This material is usually called polymer. The best method to get a good breaking pad is to mix all the method. A breaking pad consist of metal and polymer also to make it rough enough. Metal does not have a good friction, so the mixing with polymer will do. From this mixing, born a material that is completely new, called composite. The polymer is mixed in with a form of powder. This form will make the surface of composite rough, based on how small the particle of powder is. Composite is the perfect choice as a material of breaking pad. Composite can also be mixed from more than two material. For example, a composite of railway train breaking pad consist of a lot of material, such as granite, graphite, magnesium, iron, aluminum, etc. A great combination of composite is judged by how many good points it has from its material composer and how many bad points it can cover. Overall the best points of composite for breaking pad in general are able to withstand heat, smooth enough, and good friction.