All about Disc Brakes — Carengineered.com

Braking is the department that may have a limit in its functioning that is ‘To Apply Brakes and stop the vehicle’ but as far as its significance is concerned, it forms yest the most crucial of all.

Let’s take a situation of owning a car that may have the most powerful engine, say a V-12 or W-16 or W-18 configuration, an automatic transmission system with turbocharger/ supercharger equipped and 4-wd or Awd and is capable of attaining top speed within a blink of an eye.

Now with all such classic, unbeatable configurations if the car is not able to be stop then it would automatically be the last ride/drive of the driver and passengers accompanying him.

Therefore, it makes it necessary for the vehicle to be very well equipped with some sort of mechanism/system in order to reduce the car and gradually allowing is to stop without any further complications.

Also, it would rather suggest a car that do not compromise on such types of crucial takes.

Now as we have learnt about why do we need brakes, let us go into a brief understanding on what are brakes and how they function and types of braking system/brakes.

What are Brakes?

Brakes are a mechanical system/mechanism which restricts a certain motion of any object/device and is able to absorb the energy.

What are different types of brakes?

Brakes are a mechanical system/mechanism which restricts a certain motion of any object/device and is able to absorb the energy.

What are different types of brakes?

On the basis of power

• Mechanical Brakes
• Hydraulic Brakes
• Air Brakes
• Vacuum Brakes
• Power assisted Hydraulic Brakes
• Mechanical Brakes
• Electrical Brakes
• By method of Application
• Foot Brakes
• Hand Brakes

Method of operation

• Manual
• Servo
• Power operation

Method of Braking Contact

• Internal Expanding Brakes
• External Contracting Brakes

Method of applying brakes force

• Single Acting Brakes
• Double Acting Brakes

Today we shall be discussing on about the Disc Brakes

Disc Brakes

Disc Brakes are the eye catcher for any vehicle as they imparts the Aesthetic Look to any vehicle and increases the sporty look.

Today we shall be discussing on about the Disc Brakes

Disc Brakes are the eye catcher for any vehicle as they imparts the Aesthetic Look to any vehicle and increases the sporty look.

Main Components

• The Calipers
• The Cables
• The Rotor

The disc brakes are called disc brakes as they consists of a disc Rotor of variable sizes depending upon the mass and the size of the vehicle, that are mounted on the axle of 2 wheeler and to the hub assembly in the case of the 4 wheeler.

These rotors are mounted in between the calipers from both the sides, and these calipers are directly contacted with the brake lines that make them work.

The calipers are of two types,

A fixed caliper does not move In relative to the Rotor and is thus less tolerant of Rotor imperfections.

It uses one or more pairs of pistons of opposing nature to clamp from each side of the Rotor, and is more complicated and expensive compared to a floating caliper.

A floating caliper or at times called a “Sliding Caliper” slides with respect to the Rotor, along a line parallel to the axis of rotation of the Rotor.

A piston on one side of the Rotor pushes the inner brake pad until it makes contact with the braking surface, then pulls the caliper body with the outer brake pad so pressure is applied to both sides of the Rotor.

Floating caliper (single piston) designs are subject to sticking failure, caused due to the dirt or corrosion entering at least one mounting mechanism and restricting its normal movement.

This can lead to the caliper’s pads rubbing on the Rotor when the brake is not engaged or engaging it at an angle.

Another type of floating caliper is a swinging caliper.

Instead of a pair of horizontal bolts that allow the caliper to move straight in and out respective to the car body, a swinging caliper utilizes a single, vertical pivot bolt mounted somewhere behind the axle cent reline.

When the driver presses the brakes, the brake piston pushes on the inside piston and rotates the whole caliper inward, when viewed from the top.

Because the swinging caliper’s piston angle changes relative to the disc, this design uses wedge-shaped pads that are narrower in the rear on the outside and narrower on the front on the inside.

Now, when the drivers presses the brake pedal, the brake cables allows the calipers to move in towards the rotor.

Due to this contraction of rotor that is moving along with the wheel with the calipers from the both sides a huge amount of frictional force is generated that opposes the movement of the rotor and hence reduces the speed of the rotor that in-turn lowers the speed of the wheel and hence the vehicle stops.

These Rotors are of variable sizes and thicknesses depending upon the size and the weight (Momentum).

These Rotors are drilled in circular shape throughout their circumference, and is done for mainly 2 purposes

1) For the ventilation purpose, in order to dissipate the heat generated during the braking.

2) To decrease the extra weight of the disc, yet keeping the strength as the priority.

Advantages

One of the major advantage is that disc brakes are able to generate and dissipate greater amounts of heat into the atmosphere because most of the friction area of a rotor is directly exposed to air, cooling is much more rapid than for the drum brake.

This faster cooling makes them better suited for high-performance driving or best option in heavy-duty vehicles and reduces the likelihood of brake fade.

Also, because of their shape, rotors tend to scrape off water more effectively.

After being driven through water, disc brakes operate at peak performance almost immediately.

Further, due to their design, disc brakes are self-adjusting and do not need periodic maintenance or rely on a self-adjusting mechanism that is prone to sticking.

Lastly, in most cases, disc brakes are also easier to service than drum brakes.

Disadvantages.

Probably the most apparent disadvantage is that disc brakes are much more prone to noise.

Their design tends to create squeals and squeaks, which can be very annoying.

Originally published at https://www.carengineered.com on August 31, 2020.