Friction, wear and airborne particle emission from Cu-free brake materials

Cu is required to be abated in brake pads due to its toxicity. There are on the market several Cu-free brake pads. These Cu-free brake pads are only evaluated regarding their friction and wear performance, whereas, their airborne particle emissions are not considered. A pin-on-disc tribometer is used to evaluate the friction, wear and airborne particle emission from two Cu-free commercial brake pads used in the Europe. Moreover, a commercial brake pad containing Cu is evaluated as a reference. The results indicate that Cu-free brake pads yield comparable coefficient of friction as the Cu-contained brake pad. All three brake materials result in similar wear to the mating brake rotor. Cu-free brake pads generate more airborne particles than Cu-contained brake pad.