Theoretical and experimental analysis of the thermal, fade and wear characteristics of rubber-based composite friction materials

An attempt was made to examine thermal effects as well as fade and wear characteristics of rubber-based friction materials (RBFMs). A series of RBFMs with and without fiber reinforcements were prepared. The fiber reinforcements used were carbon fiber, cellulose fiber and aramid pulp. A semi-empirical model describing the correlation of coefficient of friction (COF) and temperature was presented. The effectiveness of the model was evaluated using the experimental data. The results revealed that the model parameters for a given composite show a significant change above a critical sliding velocity, i.e. 300 rpm. This behavior was speculated to be due to the transition of rubbery state of the matrix to glassy behavior caused by the viscoelastic response of the RBFMs. The experimental data revealed that such rubber-to-glass transition influences significantly the fade behavior and wear rate of the RBFMs.