Investigation of the Properties of Vermiculite Added to the Composition of Brake Pads

Abstract

The need for high-performance braking systems comes to the fore in order for high-speed and load-carrying vehicles to move safely. The friction properties of brake systems are determined by the disc/drum and pad couple. In order to fulfill these tasks, many components such as graphite, vermiculite, kevlar, rockwool, alumina, silica, calcite, mica, rubber, brass, petcoke, sulfur, basalt fiber, iron powder and phenolic resin are added to the brake pad composition. Vermiculite is a functional filling mineral with a friction regulating effect. In this study, the microstructure and morphological properties of vermiculite mineral were investigated by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. In the end of the research, it was found based on the analysis results that the vermiculite used as the brake pad component contains other components such as SiO2, Al2O3, FeO, MgO, MnO, CaO, TiO2, K2O, H2O, Cr2O3, Na2O, BaO ve ZnO in addition to the main vermiculite matrix. It was concluded that the friction force exhibited by friction materials containing vermiculite was higher than those without vermiculite.