Measurements of brake disc surface temperature and emissivity by two-color pyrometry

A fiber optic two-color pyrometer was developed for brake disc surface temperature and emissivity measurements. The two-color pyrometer consists of a fluoride glass optical fiber, two HgCdTe detectors equipped with bandwidth filters and a data conditioning and acquisition device. The two-color pyrometer measures the brake disc temperature in the 200–800 °C range with a time resolution of 8 μs. The calibration formula for the signals obtained using a blackbody of known temperature is used to compute the true temperature. The uncertainty estimation for temperature and emissivity was obtained from the calibration results. Tests were carried out on known temperature target and a good correlation was found between results obtained with our two-color pyrometer and those obtained with a commercial two-color pyrometer. Hold braking and deceleration braking tests performed on a braking test bench enabled us to reach the brake disc surface temperature and emissivity during braking. Experimental results show a significant variation of emissivity during braking. Direct measurement of emissivity was carried out on the brake disc after braking and shows the emissivity dependence with the surface quality.