Improving the surface characteristics by employing FSP on the composites for the automobile brake pad application

Looking at the background of the recent research on the area of the brake friction materials, composites are gaining the trust in being a potential replacement among the automobile sectors. The fabrication of the AA 2024 composites reinforced with 3 wt % Al₂O₃ is done using powder metallurgy technique followed by hot extrusion process. Current research work focuses on friction stir processed surface modified composites evaluated for the replacement of the currently used brake pads materials in automobile sectors. Surface characterization is carried out on the worn-out tracks of both brake materials developed and the counterpart employed using scanning electron microscope and XRD. The counterpart used in pin on disc configuration is exactly the material used in the automobile application (i.e. automobile brake disc plate material). Impact characteristics and tensile studies after friction stir processing (FSP) is studied as well. Coefficient of friction and wear loss characteristics in aspect of the tribological life of the composites developed is compared with the existing automobile brake pad components and found that FSP on composites served the purpose of the materials used in existing brake pads material.