Wear analysis of natural-inorganic fiber reinforced automotive brake composites

Abstract

Brake friction composite materials comprising varying proportions of natural (banana) and inorganic (lapinus) fibers were designed, fabricated by compression molding, and characterized for sliding wear performance. The sliding wear properties of the manufactured friction composites have been studied by the Taguchi method. An orthogonal array (L ₁₆) was used to investigate the influence of sliding wear parameters. A series of tests were conducted on a pin-on-disc machine by considering four control parameters: composition, normal load, sliding velocity, and sliding distance, each having four levels. The results showed that the wear in terms of weight loss decreases with increasing banana fiber and increases with increasing lapinus fiber, normal load, sliding velocity, and sliding distance. The results indicate that the normal load emerges as the most significant control parameter affecting wear performance, followed by sliding distance and sliding velocity.