An Analysis of Speed, Temperature, and Performance Characteristics of Automotive Drum Brakes

Finite element analysis techniques have been used to simulate braking friction in a large, heavy duty twin leading shoe brake. Temperature, lining wear and pressure distributions, and thermal distortions of the brake drum which are generated during high pressure brake applications from two different road speeds have been predicted and compared with experimental data. Two different types of brake lining, a conventional asbestos-based resin-bonded composite friction material and a heavy duty resin-bonded semi-metallic type of friction material have been studied in this way, and it is shown that observed in-stop and speed-related brake performance are strongly dependent upon the rate of frictional energy transformation at the lining/drum interface, which defines the development of interface transient temperatures. By relating the measured friction characteristic of the friction material to predicted lining friction surface temperatures good correlation between predicted and actual brake performance is demonstrated.