Bremseklodsens fysiske kemi

 

The physical chemistry for brake pads

The purpose of this Industrial Ph.D. project is to develop an inorganic and environmentally friendly brake pad, which is going to be employed in windmills and mining industry.

Besides developing an environmentally friendly brake pad, one of the most important aspects in the project is to be able to elaborate a physico-chemical model of the brake pad. The elaboration requires that the brake pad is characterized by means of microscopic and macroscopic studies. Furthermore, the physico-chemical model also implies investigation of the interface between the brake pad and the rotor disc.

Moreover, a mathematical model regarding the forces and mechanisms involved, when the brake pad is applied, will also be developed. The main requirement of any brake pad is to slow down the speed by transforming the kinetic energy into heat through friction work at the interface between the brake pad and the rotor. The transformation of kinetic energy to friction work can sometimes cause the interface temperature to rise to above 750 °C.

When the physico-chemical model and the mathematical model have been established, they will be used to evaluate different ingredients which could be used for developing the brake pad. Normally, a brake pad is formulated from many components, since a single material never has been sufficient to satisfy the all the demands of performance.