Manufacturing Brake Pads Using Locally Sourced Economical Materials

Abstract

The aim of this work is to manufacture brake pads from a local ecological eco-material. The most commonly used materials in brake linings are asbestos, metals, and ceramics. However, asbestos releases hazardous gases upon application, making it carcinogenic. For the production of this eco-material, the powder molding technique is used. The brake pads were produced using dune sand as the base material, following the standard procedure used by manufacturers, with the aim of exploiting the chemical and physical characteristics of dune sand, which is abundant in the Algerian desert. This represents 70% of the brake pad production, in addition to 30% of polyester resins in compression molding. The properties examined were microstructure analysis, compression strength, roughness, temperature testing, and water absorption. The preliminary results show that sand can be used as a material in brake manufacturing. The results obtained in this work were compared to those of other studies and commercial brake pads and showed a close correlation, indicating that sand can be used in brake pad production.