A comparison of measured and simulated friction, wear, and particle emission of disc brakes

Airborne wear particles originating from disc brakes are among the main contributors to non-exhaust emissions. The macroscopic wear behaviour of disc brakes can be explained by the growth and destruction of mesoscopic contact plateaus. The pad wear and temperature has earlier been simulated using a cellular automaton mesoscopic approach. The present paper seeks to refine the simulation approach to include disc wear and temperature, and to investigate the validity of this approach by comparing simulated brake events with a dyno bench test. The comparison shows a promising qualitative correlation between the simulated and the experimental results.