Performance assessment of lapinus–aramid based brake pad hybrid phenolic composites in friction braking

The brake pad hybrid phenolic composites based on lapinus–aramid fibre combination are designed, fabricated and characterized for various physical, chemical, mechanical, thermo-mechanical and tribo-performance. The physical properties such as water absorption, compressibility, void and ash contents increase with increase in lapinus fibre, whereas mechanical (such as hardness, impact energy, tensile and flexural strengths) and thermo-mechanical (loss-tangent, storage and loss modulus) properties increase with increase in aramid fibre. The assessment of braking performance is done using a standard test protocol conforming to ECE R-90 regulation on the Krauss friction testing machine. Comprehensively, it is found that incorporation of higher metallic-silicate lapinus fibre in formulation relative to aramid enhances the overall frictional response. The same successfully arrests highest rise in the disc temperature even though wear losses are maximized. The same show lowest fading and excellent recovery performance. Optimally the formulation having lapinus-to-aramid proportion 25:5 experimentally optimizes the overall braking performance. The SEM micrograph study justifies the overall braking tribology and the associated wear mechanisms.