Corrosion induced brake torque variation: The effect from gray iron microstructure and friction materials

Brake judder caused by corrosion of gray iron disks was investigated. In this study, the microstructure of the gray iron disks and the friction film developed on the disk surface by commercial friction materials were examined to find the root cause of the corrosion induced brake torque variation. Corrosion of the disk was carried out in an environmental chamber, simulating in-vehicle disk corrosion. Moisture content and acidity of the friction materials were also taken into account for this investigation and brake tests to examine torque variation during brake applications were performed using a single-end brake dynamometer. Results showed that the friction film developed on the disk surface strongly affected the amount of corrosion, while graphite morphology of the gray iron had little effect on the corrosion. Dynamometer test results also confirmed that the composition of the friction film affects brake torque variation and the oxides on the disk surface persisted for an extended period of time during the dynamometer tests. This suggested that the friction material composition, which was directly related to the composition of the friction film, was one of the crucial factors for the brake torque variation induced by disk corrosion.