Tag Archives: original post

Friction Materials Manufacturers: Moving Industry Forward (And Sometimes Stopping When Necessary)

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I think of the timeline of friction materials development in the same way that I think of the timeline of the development of modern medicine. Just a century or so ago, apothecaries were experiencing their twilight as legitimate, credible sources of health care services. Drugs that have now been recognized as harmful or addictive were then being hailed as miracle cure-alls for often misdiagnosed or invented disorders like Continue reading →

On Disc Brake Pad Materials

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In my last post I talked a bit about how and why disc brakes are good braking solutions for many vehicles. We discussed how they work, where they’re positioned in a vehicle and a few other details. In this post I’d like to talk about the actual disc brake pad materials – what they are and why they’re so good at slowing vehicles down. The brake pad is, basically, what it sounds like. It’s a pad that is involved in the brake assembly, and it assists with braking. How does it do this? Brake pads are composed of Continue reading →

Disc Brakes: Almost Perfect, But…

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Disc brakes are not without their flaws. Don’t get me wrong – the disc brake is one of the simplest, most intuitive braking systems available for automobiles. Let’s just quick go over how they work. The brake disc is directly connected to the wheel axel, and the brake assembly is mounted in a position that sort of hovers over the disc. The brake assembly includes the caliper, piston and pads. When the brake is engaged, the pistons are actuated, and this causes the brake pads to come into contact with the brake disc. The friction materials in the brake pads are Continue reading →

The Importance of Friction Products

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Mining Equipment Image by Tobias Mandt

Mining Equipment Image by Tobias Mandt.

Look at the image above. Consider the influence and importance of friction products here. Looking at images like these can make the importance of friction products to industry and to other economic sectors easily apparent. Let’s start with the most visible, obvious examples. Take a look at the orange-colored materials being deposited by the equipment. It’s very likely that the conveyor system visible in this picture is controlled by a system that includes friction products as part of emergency stop mechanisms. Friction products are also likely to be included in the crane and Continue reading →

Industrial Friction Materials

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Imagine that you are driving a combine harvester (in case it helps you imagine, combine harvesters are the big agricultural machines with circular threshers mounted at the front). You’re minding your own business, harvesting grain products, when suddenly you realize that you need to stop – you’re going to run over Schrödinger the Scarecrow, a family farm heirloom. You smash down on the brakes, but nothing happens. You’re not moving particularly fast, but combine harvesters are huge machines, and inertia is sure to carry you straight over Schrödinger, wiping out Continue reading →

The Phase-Out of Asbestos Brake Lining

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The development of industry, since its inception, has been characterized by continuing series of transformations and redevelopments. That development always involves finding newer, safer ways of handling products, choosing industrial ingredients and producing products that don’t pose risks to people or to the environment. This is as true in the friction materials industry as it is true in any other Continue reading →

Friction Materials and Surprising Innovations

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Disc BrakeCrane - Oxam Hartog

Friction materials are used as braking equipment in many contexts, such as in the overhead crane brake shoes supplied by Cook Bonding and Manufacturing.

To understand the importance of friction materials, it can be helpful to consider the example of the Kiruna to Narvik railway in northern Sweden. The railway is used to transport iron ore from mines in Kiruna to ports elsewhere in the country. When the trains from Kiruna travel their way back down the steep passes, their braking systems, because of the friction used to slow the speed of the trains, generates tremendous amounts of heat. And what happens to this heat? Engineers eventually found a way to capture the heat generated by the braking of the train and convert it into energy that can be used and stored. In fact, the energy generated by the braking of the train on its return from Continue reading →

Brake Lining Composition Matters

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Protec Brake and Clutch Lining

Brake and clutch lining image courtesy of Protec Friction Supply.

To the uninitiated, the means by which automobiles and their constituent parts function can be completely opaque and mysterious. What’s going on under the hood of a car while it’s running or to a wheel when it’s braking can seem like knowledge that is reserved only for engineers and mechanics. Obviously, though, this is not the case. If you can understand the concepts of friction and inertia, you can understand how a car’s braking system works. If you understand even just a little bit about Continue reading →

Giving Brake Bands Credit

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Global Friction Large Brake Band

Brake band image courtesy of Global Friction Products.

People don’t give brakes the credit they deserve as advanced mechanical utilities. This is true in the case of all kinds of brakes, from disk brakes and brake shoes to ceramic brake pads and even brake bands. After all, restraining movement isn’t necessarily a simple task, especially in automotive contexts. Of course, professionals within the friction materials industry know that braking is all about Continue reading →

Ceramic Brake Pads – Valued Everywhere

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Ceco brake and clutch pads

Brake and clutch pad image courtesy of CECO Friction Products, Inc.

Brake pads are essential components in all automobiles. They can also be important in agricultural equipment, industrial vehicles and many kinds of other heavy equipment that make use of moving parts. Because different vehicles have different needs in terms of motion control equipment, not all braking materials have the same composition or are configured in the same way. As research into friction materials development has progressed, engineers have found that some Continue reading →