The surfaces of a brake pad and rotor were investigated after a run-in period during which a stable coefficient of friction had developed. The Focused Ion Beam Technique (FIB) was used to reveal tribologically induced surface films and for cross-sectional preparation of superficial layers. Additional information was obtained by TEM/EDS of thin lamellae prepared with the FIB and by surface analytical methods (GDOS, XPS and RS). Microscopic contact areas of the pad showed bright contrast in Scanning Ion Microscopy (SIM). This was attributed to severe plastic deformation finally leading to a nanocrystalline microstructure. Metallic particles of the pad, the so-called primary contact areas, were mostly covered with a smooth oxide layer of less than 1 µm thickness. Above this layer a thin (100 nm) partly amorphous film was often observed. The film was not only restricted to the metal particles, but also spread over adjacent regions, suggesting that secondary plateaus had formed. Similar layers and films, although with slightly different composition and structure, were also observed at the surface of the rotor.
Copper is a major ingredient in friction materials used for automotive braking. The purpose of this study was to find out how copper contributes to good brake performance properties in addition to providing good thermal conductivity. Microstructural investigations of copper chips at the surfaces of brake pads revealed a zone of severe plastic deformation which provides high hardness, but there is also evidence of recrystallized copper nano-particles which are incorporated into friction layers as soft ingredient once detached from the pad surface. Thus copper seems to play a dual role, firstly as reinforcing element of the brake pad providing primary contact sites, and secondly as solid lubricant by contributing to the formation of a layer of granular material providing velocity accommodation between the rotating disc and fixed pad. Confirmation for this hypothesis was obtained by modelling contact sites on the nanometre scale with the method of movable cellular automata. Results show both, the similarity of steel fibres and copper macro-particles in respect to providing primary contact sites, as well as similar sliding behaviours of friction layers containing either copper or graphite as soft inclusions. Furthermore, it is shown that not only material properties, but also the concentration of solid lubricant particles in the friction layers, determine conditions for friction force stabilization and smooth sliding behaviour.
Third bodies, also termed friction layers, tribofilms or secondary contact patches, are layers of more or less compacted wear debris between pads and rotor of a disc brake. Our approach of assessing the sliding behavior and friction properties induced by third bodies has been: i) structural characterization after AK-master test procedure, ii) sliding simulation of model structures similar to the observed ones but with simpler and well defined compositions, and iii) verification of simulation results by pin-on-disc tests with artificial third bodies showing the same microstructures and compositions as the model structures. The idea was to simulate structure formation during real braking conditions by high energy ball milling of appropriate powder blends. The final outcome of numerous parameter studies was that a third body containing 15 vol% soft ingredients and 0-20 vol % hard ingredients, both distributed homogeneously in a nanocrystalline iron oxide matrix, should be most desirable for braking. This general description of the optimum third body structure and several parameter studies performed by modelling enabled us to interpret a number of features of the AK-master test procedure, such as i) friction evolution during bedding, ii) the role of solid lubricants in respect to the initiation of smooth sliding behavior, and iii) friction evolution during a single braking event (in-stop behavior).