BrakeBetter – Brake Systems Experts
A typical brake system found in a contemporary passenger car might weigh up to 80kg. Of that figure, the foundation brake dominates, at over 80% of the weight. A typical “brake down” is shown in Table 1. Actuation 6% Modulation 11% Foundation 83% (of which) Discs 51% Callipers 31% Pads 7% Table 1: Brake system …
In this post, we will consider the emissions of a brake system. While we have previously discussed the topic of brake dust and it’s likely solutions (and indeed, how it remains a hot topic today), this post will introduce the idea of life cycle analysis for brake systems. We will look at how such analysis …
In mid June 2024, the annual EuroBrake conference was held in the German city of Mainz, with over 1100 delegates in attendance. As usual, the three days included a tightly packed technical program, and the conference venue hosted a large exhibition of braking technology from leading suppliers. In preparing the technical content, the programme development …
In this post, I want to examine the state of the art for braking the worlds’ most popular electric vehicles, 2 wheelers. I would like to compare the technical options for 2 and 4 (or more) wheelers, and review some of the lessons learned from 4 wheelers. Finally, we can speculate as to what comes …
iPhones on Wheels Modern road vehicles are full of computers, and getting fuller. In fact, the factors driving the digitisation of vehicle systems are familiar for many other technology developments, namely safety, efficiency and power. A brief look at the second century of automotive brakes shows the digitisation of braking systems has been with us for nearly …
In September 2015, the automotive world learned a powerful new phrase. The phrase came to embody a damaging lack of transparency and trust in multinational OEMs as well as weakness in gatekeeping. In Europe, particularly, the scale of the problem was so widespread that it was clear a systemic reset was urgently needed. While OEMs …
In this article, I will revisit the topic of brake dust, in order to update the latest developments in this crucial area, review some timely legislative activity in this area relevant to braking and other vehicle technology areas. An informative point to start this journey is to look at the inquest into the death of …
In this article, we will revisit the topic of brake dust, and look at some of the devices that are in the public domain that hope to solve the issue. We will see growing evidence of testing activities, as well as commercialising new concepts, and review the surge in new intellectual property in this area. You …
Ceci n’est pas une pipe In this post, we shall spend some time exploring the topic of brake by wire, and look at the various flavours of decoupled brake systems already in the market, as well as the prospects for Brake-by-Wire using electrical energy as the energy transmission system. We will also discuss the advantages …
This St. Patricks’ Day, we will continue our series looking at some important Irish transport engineers throughout history. Previously we’ve examined the work of Henry Ferguson and James Drumm, but this year the focus will be on John Phillip Holland, one of the most influential figures in maritime innovation. Like all great historical romps, the story of John Holland …