A modified pin-on-disc test was applied to determine tribological properties of typical brake pad constituents. Ball-milling of these ingredients together with iron oxide and graphite provided model materials displaying the main features of real third bodies. Solid lubricants like graphite affected the friction and wear behaviour of Fe3O4 powders considerably whereas further addition of hard nanoparticles induced only minor effects. This was corroborated by comparison with modelling results. MoS2 played a dual role. Depending on special conditions, this ingredient either reduced or increased friction. The latter could be explained, after nanoscopic characterization, by oxidation and destruction of the wear-protecting tribofilm.
Besides carbon, metal sulphides are used in every standard brake pad formulation as friction stabilisers. In order to investigate their impact, various powder mixtures were tribologically stressed in a pin-on-disc device in order to produce and test artificial third bodies. containing the three main components of a real friction film, namely magnetite, graphite and a metal sulphide of interest. Since the sliding behaviour is influenced by the relative humidity the powder mixtures are tested at low, medium and high moisture levels. The tests revealed that the presence of graphite dominates the friction behaviour as well as the humidity sensitivity.
The powders were prepared by either manual mixing or high energy ball-milling. Interestingly, all ball-milled blends provided coefficients of friction within the desired range for braking, which was attributed to the effect of zirconia particles from wear debris of the milling balls. The zirconia particles prevent the formation of solid lubricant films on the surfaces and support a homogeneous mixture of all constituents of the powder. Optimum brake performance is gained by an optimum combination of solid lubricants and abrasives.