Wear 263 (2007) 12021211

Tribological investigation of titanium-based materials for brakes

Peter J. Blau , Brian C. Jolly, Jun Qu, William H. Peter, Craig A. Blue
Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN, USA Received 14 August 2006; received in revised form 19 December 2006; accepted 21 December 2006 Available online 19 March 2007

Abstract Titanium alloys and their composites have the potential to reduce truck disc brake component weight and improve their resistance to road-salt corrosion. A titanium alloy rotor can weigh approximately 37% less than a conventional cast iron rotor with the same dimensions, while offering good high-temperature strength and much better resistance to corrosion from road-deicing salts. Friction coefcients and temperature rise data were obtained for two commercial Ti alloys, four experimental Ti-based hard particle composites, and a thermally spray-coated Ti alloy. Several commercially produced lining materials were used as counterfaces. Using a at block pressed against a rotating disc, tests consisted of repetitive on-and-off drags at sliding speeds from 2 to 15 m/s, using nominal contact pressures of 1.0 or 2.0 MPa. Friction coefcients were affected by the choice of counterface (semi-metallic versus highly metallic lining composition) and by the friction-induced wear track temperature, which at times exceeded 800 C. The wear rates of the Ti metal matrix composites exceeded that of the reference cast iron, but were signicantly better that that of two Ti alloys. A thermal conversion parameter was used to compare the efciency by which various material combinations convert frictional work into temperature rise. Several of the tested material combinations provided friction coefcients within the typical range for brake materials (0.350.55) and some showed excellent resistance to fade, a phenomenon in which braking effectiveness decreases as temperature rises. The thermally spray-coated Ti disc exhibited the least wear and merits further attention as a lightweight, corrosion-resistant brake rotor material. 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Disk brakes; Sliding friction; Titanium alloys; Thermal sprayed coatings; Titanium composites; Friction material

1. Introduction The braking system is a vital safety component of groundbased transportation systems, and the structural materials used in brakes have to fulll a combination of functions. They must be dependable, durable, corrosion resistant, structurally sound, and economically viable. Two general types of brake designs are currently used on heavy trucks: (a) drum brakes in which curved contact surfaces (shoes) are forced outward against the inner diameter of a circular drum, and (b) disc brakes in which at pads are clamped against a circular rotor that is attached to the wheel hub. Disc brakes are commonplace on automobiles and on some types of buses and trucks. The rotor/pad design of disc brakes tends to exhibit better resistance to fade (the decrease in friction when the brake temperature rises too high) than do drum/shoe type brakes. The European trucking indus-

Corresponding author. P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6063, USA Tel.: +1 865 574 5377. E-mail address: blaupj@ornl.gov (P.J. Blau). 0043-1648/$ see front matter 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.wear.2006.12.015

try has widely adopted air or pneumatic (versus hydraulic) disc brakes, and the U.S. trucking industry is likely to witness an increasing use of disc brakes in the face of new governmentmandated, 2030% reductions in stopping distance. Caliper clamping forces in commercial air disc brake systems for trucks can exceed 300 kN and the brake assembly might be called upon to dissipate as much as 900 kW (1200 hp) during a single stop [1]. Most disc brake rotors in use today are made from gray cast iron, typically containing about 3.5% carbon and various additives. Compositional modications and heat treatments are also optimized to avoid thermal cracking and rotor distortion. In contrast to the rotors, brake pads are complex composite materials. They typically contain a phenolic resin binder with additions of mineral bers, llers, friction-modifying compounds, abrasives, and metallic particles to modify heat ow characteristics. Numerous compositions of friction materials have been developed, largely by empirical testing, and as a result, they vary greatly [2,3]. A given composition may work well for one particular vehicle design and set of operating conditions, but not necessarily for another. For example, linings that are formulated

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for long-distance highway use my not work as well for intercity delivery trucks, trash haulers, or municipal buses that travel slowly and frequently have to stop. For over a decade the U.S. Department of Energy has supported research and development projects to improve the fuel economy of automobiles and heavy trucks. The portfolio of projects ranges from reduced aerodynamic drag to lowering engine friction and parasitic losses in the drive train. If vehicles are made to roll more easily, they also become harder to stop, and several projects were conducted to investigate alternative, light-weight materials that could improve the braking effectiveness while also contributing to energy efciency. These materials included ceramic composites [4] and carbon-graphite materials [5] that have found limited but growing usage in high-speed trains and aircraft. However, lighter weight metallic alloys and metal matrix composites are also candidates for friction brakes. In the work reported here, the tribological characteristics of several kinds of titanium-based materials were investigated. This interest was prompted in part by recent research that promises to reduce the raw material cost of Ti and thus make additional applications economically feasible [6]. Except for niche racing applications [7], titanium alloys have seen little commercial use in brake rotors. However, they are lighter in weight than comparably sized cast iron parts and have good stiffness, relatively high-strength, and excellent resistance to corrosive attack by ice-melting salts. These advantages merited an investigation of their potential for use in future truckbraking systems. Table 1 compares some properties of Ti alloys to those of gray cast iron, a traditional brake drum and disc material. Due to a massive research and development investment by the aerospace and defense industries, a great deal is known about the metallurgy and processing of titanium alloys. However, their tribological characteristics are less well known. While the fretting characteristics of Ti alloys have been the subject of considerable research, relatively few papers have addressed the sliding wear and friction of titanium alloys (e.g. [810]). Based on published work, recent studies at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and discussions with brake system engineers, titanium alloys are unlikely to be satisfactory rotor materials without some form of surface modication, particulate additions, or coating. While titanium-based alloys offer several advantages for brakes, their three major disadvantages are (1) low thermal conductivity relative to cast iron, (2) the trucking industrys lack of familiarity with the material, and (3) the cost of titanium parts. Thermal
Table 1 Comparison of selected properties of a titanium alloy with gray cast irona Ti6Al4V Density (g/cm3 ) Melting point ( C) Elastic modulus (GPa) Poissons ratio Thermal conductivity (W/m K) Specic heat J/(kg K) Coefcient of thermal expansion (106 K1 )
a

behavior is particularly relevant in terms of brake function, pad material selection, and rotor design. Cost elements include raw materials, processing, fabrication, surface treatment (if any), and machining. While needs of the aerospace industry have prompted studies of Ti machining, Ti alloys are in general more difcult to machine than cast iron. This is due in part to their low thermal conductivity and a lack of internal lubricants and chip-breakers, like the graphite akes in cast iron. The objective of this work was to investigate the friction, wear, and thermal heating characteristics of Ti alloys in various forms, and to compare the results to those for cast iron tested under similar conditions. The counterface materials were commercially produced brake lining materials. A portion of these data was reported earlier [11], but the present paper includes more recently obtained data on additional Ti materials. 2. Materials Seven titanium-based materials, consisting of commercial alloys, experimental hard-particle metal matrix composites, and a thermally sprayed coating on top of titanium, were investigated. The alloys, along with selected properties, are listed in Table 2. Designations used to identify the materials in this study are also provided. 2.1. Baseline titanium alloys Two commercially produced titanium alloys were provided by Titanium Metals Corporation (TIMET) in the form of round ingots approximately 0.3 m long and 200 mm in diameter. Alloy Ti6242 represented a more heat-resistant alloy than the Ti64 alloy. Compositions and properties were provided by the supplier. Thermal conductivity data were measured by H. Wang, ORNL, and the Vickers microindentation hardness (HV) and scratch hardness (HS) were also measured in our laboratory. The scratch hardness data were obtained using ASTM Standard G-171-03 [12]. Microstructures of these alloys are shown in Fig. 1. 2.2. Titanium composites Three Ti-based particulate composites were prepared by a commercial supplier [13] and one was produced at Oak Ridge National Laboratory from low-cost Ti powder [14]. The Ti-based composites from Dynamet, Inc., were prepared using is called

Gray cast iron 7.2 12001300 200211 0.17 42.062.0 460 8.119.3 (20 C)

4.4 16501670 107122 (20 C) 105111 (230 C) 0.31 6.6 (20 C) 10.6 (315 C) 17.5 (650 C) 586. (20570 C) 9.0 (0100 C) 9.4 (20425 C) 9.7 (20650 C)

Refs. [2,2022].

1204 Table 2 Test disk materials and their properties Material (code) Ti6Al4V (Ti64)

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Composition (wt%) or method of preparation 6.53 Al, 3.89 V, 0.035 Mo, 0.128 Fe, 0.02 Zr, 0.024 Si, 0.05 C, 0.181 O (Note 1)

Mechanical and thermal propertiesa UTS = 953 MPa; YS = 878 MPa; El. = 12%; HV2N = 3.36 GPa; HS4N = 4.09 GPa; kth = 6.83 W/m K; = 4.42 g/cm3 UTS = 956 MPa; YS = 886 MPa; El. = 12.5%; HV2N = 3.31 GPa; HS4N = 2.55 GPa; = 4.54 g/cm3 kth = 6.30 W/m K; = 4.42 g/cm3 (Ti6Al4V disk below the coating) UTS = 1118 MPa; YS = 1008 MPa; El. = 3%; kth = 7.99 W/m K; = 4.34 g/cm3 UTS = 987 MPa; YS = 953 MPa; El. = 1.5%; kth = 8.21 W/m K; = 4.44 g/cm3 UTS = 1022 MPa; YS = 1015 MPa; El. = 1%; kth = 6.57 W/m K; = 4.68 g/cm3 = 4.46 g/cm3

Comments Primary aerospace alloy from TIMET Corporation, Nevada USA; (see Notes 2,3) Heat-resistant Ti alloy from TIMET Corporation, Nevada USA; (see Notes 2,3 for sources of property data Ti64 disk coated by Red Devil Brakes, Mt. Pleasant, PA Prepared for this project by Dynamet Corp., Burlington, MA (see Notes 2,3) Prepared for this project by Dynamet Corp., Burlington, MA (see Notes 2,3) Prepared for this project by Dynamet Corp., Burlington, MA (see Notes 2,3) Prepared at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Ti6Al2Sn4Zr2Mo (Ti6242) Thermal spray-coated Ti6Al4V (ThSp) CermeTi composite (5TiB) CermeTi composite (10TiC) CermeTi composite (WTiC) ORNL TiB2 Composite (30TiB)

5.85 Al, 1.95 Mo, 0.06 Fe, 1.98 Sn, 4.22 Zr, 0.075 Si, 0.01 C, 0.09 O (Note 1) Ti alloy thermally sprayed with a proprietary, two-layer metal-ceramic coating approximately 0.6 mm thick Particle reinforced composite produced by cold plus hot isostatic pressing (CHIP); 5 wt% TiB2 Particle reinforced composite produced by cold plus hot isostatic pressing (CHIP); 10 wt% TiC Particle reinforced composite produced by cold plus hot isostatic pressing (CHIP); 7.5 wt% WC, 7.5 wt% TiC 30 wt% TiB2 , mixed into Ti powder layer, then pressed and sintered on the top of a substrate of Ti powder

Note 1: Analysis of the heat of material used in these tests was provided by TIMET Corp., Nevada, USA; Note 2: Tensile properties of the material from the supplier of the material, Vickers hardness tests done at ORNL; Note 3: Thermal conductivities of the test materials were measured by H. Wang, ORNL. a Abbreviations: YS, 0.2% off-set yield strength; UTS, ultimate tensile strength; El., elongation; k , thermal conductivity; , density. th

Cold plus Hot Isostatic Processing (CHIP), details of which are discussed on their website. The material produced at ORNL used a mixture of low-cost titanium powder and titanium diboride particles. The Ti was dry-mixed with TiB2 and then placed in a disc specimen-sized mold and initially compressed. Then additional commercial purity Ti powder was placed on top, and the nal composite was consolidated by hot pressing at 800 C for 1.5 h. 2.3. Thermally sprayed titanium Discs of Ti64 were prepared from the TIMET material and sent to a commercial source for thermal spraying with a pro-

prietary coating [15]. The thickness of the coating, as nished and prior to testing, was approximately 0.6 mm. The microstructure of the material is shown in Fig. 2. It consists of a metallic bonding layer and an upper composite layer that rubs against the lining. 2.4. Brake lining materials Brake lining materials especially formulated for use on bare titanium surfaces or composites of titanium have yet to be produced, and since developing such materials was beyond the scope of this effort, several available commercial linings were

Fig. 1. Microstructures of Ti64 (left) and Ti6242 (right).

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rent brake lining materials. The authors made no attempt to reverse engineer or phase-analyze this proprietary material. A high-performance brake pad material, called Carbon MetallicTM Type 10, was purchased from Performance Friction Brakes, Inc. The manufacturer claimed it had high stopping power, resistance to fade, and a combination of high pad and rotor wear life. While neither the Jurid nor the Performance Friction material was developed specically for titanium-based rotors, they were chosen for their metallic content that can help to conduct heat. The producer of the ThSp disc material supplied two proprietary, fully-metallic formulations of pad material that he found suitable based on his companys experience. These are designated here as RD14 and RD589A. 3. Testing procedure
Fig. 2. Microstructure of the thermally sprayed composite coating used in this work.

Fig. 3. Polished cross section of Jurid 539, a proprietary pad material, showing a complex combination of additives such as metal chips, ceramic fragments, llers, carbon particles, and a binder phase.

selected instead. These are listed in Table 3. Jurid 539 lining (Knorr-Bremse, Germany) is a semi-metallic, non-asbestos organic material that is designed for truck disc brakes. A crosssection of the material, showing a mixture of phases, is shown in Fig. 3. It exhibits a complex mixture of metallic chips, hard particles, llers, friction modiers, and binders that typify cur-

The sub-scale brake material testing system (SSBT) used in this work was built to conduct drag-type sliding friction and wear tests under controlled conditions (e.g. Refs. [11,1618]). A diagram of the device, as shown from the side, is given in Fig. 4. A 10 hp, 3-phase, variable-speed motor drives a precision machining spindle upon which was mounted the 127 mm diameter disc specimen. Spacers were used to reduce heat conduction between the rear of the disc and the face of the drive spindle. The force on the pad specimen was applied using a pneumatic actuator that was damped to avoid impact loading. Tangential force was measured using a load cell attached to a low-friction bearing-mounted, actuator support bracket. The pad specimen, a 12.7 mm square-faced block was applied to the clockwiserotating disc at the 9 oclock position so that the direction of the tangential force was upward. In Fig. 4, the friction force tended to pull the block specimen upwards, placing the load cell in tension. The water spray and shroud, shown dashed in Fig. 4, was used in a previous study [16] but was removed for the current work. Discs were machined from solid test materials and did not contain the ventilation channels, holes, or other cooling passages that are used in commercial disc brake rotors. Therefore, they may have run somewhat hotter than actual rotors made from the same materials. The radial distance from the center of the pad specimen contact to the center of the disc was 54.0 mm. Prior to testing, discs were given a circumferential surface lay using 120 grit alumina abrasive paper. The initial centerline average for

Table 3 Brake lining materials used in this investigation Material (code) JURID 539 (J539) Performance Friction Carbon Metallic, Type 10 (PF) Commercial lining, Red Devil Type 589A (RD589) Commercial lining, Red Devil Type 14 (RD14) Composition (wt%) or method of preparation Proprietary semi-metallic composition used in truck air disk brakes Proprietary, brake lining formulation for high-performance, high-heat applications Proprietary, highly metallic formulation, developed by its supplier for Ti-based rotors Proprietary, highly metallic formulation, developed by its supplier for Ti-based rotors Source Product of Knorr-Bremse, Germany Performance Friction, Clover, South Carolina, USA Red Devil Brakes, Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania Red Devil Brakes, Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania

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Fig. 4. Schematic side view of the sub-scale brake testing system. The block and disc specimens are near the center of the diagram. The disc rotates clockwise with the block applied at the 9 oclock position and the IR detector at the 1 oclock position.

surface roughness of the discs (Ra ), measured with a Talysurf 10TM proling instrument with a 2.5 m tip radius using 7 cutoffs of 0.8 mm, was typically 0.350.50 m. The peak-to-valley roughness was typically 2.04.0 m. An infrared (IR) sensor was used to measure the disc surface temperature at the 1 oclock position. The emissivity of the transfer lm-covered discs was determined by heating a preburnished disc specimen on a hot plate and using a surface thermocouple to calibrate the IR sensor. From time to time, the IR temperature readings were checked using a touch type thermocouple probe on the disc surface immediately after testing. Small adjustments to the emissivity calibration could then be made. Test data were collected using a LabViewTM -based,1 customized data acquisition system that was designed and installed by Controlink Systems LLC.2 Five parameters were recorded for each test: disc rotational speed, pad actuator pressure (normal force), friction force, instantaneous friction coefcient (calculated), and disc surface temperature. Data capture rates of 64 or 128 s1 were found to be sufcient. Two normal forces were used: a low value of approximately 161 N, and a higher value or approximately 320 N. Assuming full contact on a pad 12.7 mm square, these two values produced nominal contact pressures of 1.0 and 2.0 MPa, respectively. Either 5 or 10 repetitive drags at constant load were applied in each series of runs. The sliding velocities were 2, 6, 9.6, or 11 m/s. Commercial truck disc brakes are available in several diameters; however, for the purposes of estimating equivalent highway speeds, one can assume an outer rotor diameter of 445 mm and a brake pad width of 90 mm (in the radial direction) with the center of the swept contact about 200 mm from the center of wheel rotation. Assuming a typical static loaded radius for a commercial truck tire is 0.528 m and that no slip occurs between the tire and the road surface, the current range of experimental conditions at 2, 6, 9.6 and 15 m/s correspond, respectively, to vehicle speeds of about 19, 57, 91.3, and 142.6 km/h (11.9, 35.7, 57.1, and 89.2 mile/h).

4. Results Results of these experiments are arranged by type of material, beginning with the baseline titanium alloys. In certain cases, data for the same pad materials against gray cast iron, under the same conditions, are provided for comparison. 4.1. Baseline titanium alloys The effect of sliding speed on the average friction coefcient per drag for the baseline alloys Ti64 and Ti6242, against Jurid 539, are shown in Fig. 5. Friction coefcients for typical automotive and truck braking materials tend to fall in the range between about 0.35 and 0.55, and on that basis, the friction coefcients for the baseline Ti alloys are not unreasonable, being similar to those of cast iron tested under similar conditions (see Table 4). In one pair of tests at 2 m/s, the friction coefcient of alloy Ti6242 against Jurid 539 was higher than that of Ti64. The reason for that result is not clear. One would, however, prefer higher friction coefcients than 0.320.35 at high speeds, and the use

1 2

National Instruments, Inc., Austin, TX, USA. Controlink Systems, LLC, Lawrenceburg, IN, USA.

Fig. 5. Friction coefcient per drag for two Ti alloys at three sliding speeds.

P.J. Blau et al. / Wear 263 (2007) 12021211 Table 4 Average of friction coefcients for Ti-based composites and cast iron at various sliding speeds, loads, and lining materials (values in bold font equal or exceed 0.35) Disc material Cast iron Pad material J539 PF 5TiB 10TiC J539 J539 PF WTiC 30TiB J539 J539 RD589 Load (N) Velocity (v) 2 m/s 161 322 161 322 161 322 161 322 161 322 161 322 161 322 161 322 0.47 0.46 0.22 0.25 0.25 0.29 0.26 0.30 0.15 0.18 0.29 0.35 0.36 0.32 0.54 0.27 6 m/s 0.41 0.39 0.29 0.27 0.28 0.28 0.29 0.31 0.16 0.15 0.31 0.31 0.42 0.31 0.42 0.33 9.6 m/s 0.36 0.35 0.24 0.27 0.29 0.27 0.30 0.31 0.14 0.16 0.31 0.29 0.42 0.25 0.42 0.45 15 m/s 0.34 0.36 0.32 0.26 0.33 0.27 0.37 0.24 0.37 0.45

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Fig. 7. The friction coefcient remained comparatively stable at approximately = 0.34 0.04 for repeated drags on the ORNL composite material 30TiB against Jurid 539.

of alternative pad materials or increasing the surface roughness (to facilitate transfer lm formation) might help. The average temperature rises for these tests correlated linearly with sliding speed (Fig. 6). 4.2. Ti-based composites A summary of average friction coefcients for a series of tests run at several speeds and normal forces is presented in Table 4. As with cast iron, the J539 material provided higher friction coefcients than the PF material in these experiments. Assuming that a range of 0.350.55 is acceptable for brake couples, then only the cast iron, one of the W-TiC composites at low speed,

and most of the values for the 30TiB composite fell within that range (shown in bold type in Table 4). Fig. 7 shows the relatively stable and repeatable friction behavior for the rst three drags in one test of the 30TiB composite against Jurid 539. Fig. 8 shows the surface of that disc after testing at four speeds and two loads. Table 5 lists wear rates, in descending order, for the Ti alloy, cast iron, and four composites, slid against Jurid 539 at all four speeds and at each of two loads (161 and 322 N). The data also shows these results relative to Ti64 and cast iron. Adding hard particles to the Ti64 alloy reduced the wear rate by between 16 and 30 times, but no Ti-based composite wore as little as cast iron under the current conditions. The cast iron displayed a uniform and relatively smooth, dark-colored transfer layer while the wear tracks of the Ti alloys showed deeper and more local-

Fig. 6. The temperature rise for each 30-s drag was linearly related to the sliding speed.

Fig. 8. Test disc of composite material 30TiB showing the complete wear track and the discoloration (heat tinting) that resulted from exposure to frictional heating temperatures well over 700 C.

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Table 5 Wear of Ti-based composites and cast iron against lining material J539 (cumulative wear after repeated drags at 4 different speeds and 161 N load) Disk material Ti64 5TiB 10TiC W/TiC Cast iron Disk wear rate (106 mm3 /N m) 246.3 14.9 10.4 8.19 2.36 Wear rate relative to cast iron 104.4 6.31 4.40 3.47 1.00 Wear rate relative to Ti64 1.00 0.06 0.04 0.03 0.01

ized grooves, suggesting a more abrasive wear process was at work. The wear factor for the 30TiB composite was not obtained against Jurid 539 but had a value of 8.0 106 mm3 /N m against the RD589 lining material run under otherwise similar conditions. This was similar to the wear rate of the W/TiC against Jurid 539. 4.3. Thermally sprayed titanium discs The coated Ti-discs were designed to be used under more extreme, racing-like conditions, where fade phenomena from rapid repeated braking are common. Friction coefcient versus temperature data shown in Figs. 9 and 10 demonstrate this effect. The friction coefcients exhibited under less severe sliding conditions did not reach 0.35 (shown as a dashed trend line in Fig. 9), but they continued to rise as the friction-induced temperature increased. Fig. 10 shows that within a sequence of individual drags at high speed, the friction coefcient per drag increased with the average disc temperature in the same drag. The best frictional performance occurred when the disc temperature exceeded about 500 C, suggesting that the ThSp discs tend to perform better during high-energy braking situations.

Fig. 10. Average friction coefcient per drag increased for the ThSp disc as its surface was frictionally heated, as shown in a sequence of ve drags at 15 m/s.

5. Discussion 5.1. Frictional behavior The objective of this work was to use sub-scale laboratory tests to assess the potential of using Ti-based materials as disc brake rotor surfaces; however, the selection of the proper counterface (friction material) is equally important in order to achieve needed friction levels, wear rates, and frictional heating characteristics. Titanium alloys, with their low thermal conductivity relative to cast iron, present important challenges for the selection of a compatible friction material. For a given level of friction force, Ti-based rotors run hotter than cast iron, as illustrated by high values for the thermal heating parameter. Thus, an increased requirement for friction materials to be used with Ti rotors is that they maintain a stable friction coefcient over a wider range of operating temperatures than is required for traditional cast iron brake rotors. That, in turn, has implications for the process of third-body layer formation. It has long been recognized by automotive and truck brake materials community that the key to effective brake performance is the development of a uniform and frictionally effective thirdbody layer. The brake pad must continue to re-supply material to replenish the third body layer as it wears off, and yet achieve an acceptable wear rate. The role of the disc is to maintain structural strength and dimensions, resist heat and corrosion, and provide the proper surface conditions to form and support a functional transfer lm. Cast iron has worked well in that role for decades, but it is not considered a light-weight material, nor is it the most corrosion and heat-resistant. However, cast iron does not demand the temperature range from the lining material that titanium rotors would, and the current results suggest that new lining materials suitable for titanium would need to be carefully selected or developed if Ti-based rotors were to be commercialized for the heavy truck market. Most of the titanium alloys and composites tested in this work had lower than desirable friction coefcients, particularly

Fig. 9. Average friction coefcients for several sets of ve drags of lining material RD14 against ThSp at four different sliding speeds that resulted in high maximum (peak) disc temperatures.

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at low pressures and low speeds. This may be due to their inability to establish a transfer lm with the selected lining materials under such mild contact conditions. The challenge may be to nd an initial surface condition or lining type that promotes rapid formation of stable transfer lms. One approach for discs made from composite material is to increase their surface roughness by etching the matrix to expose more hard particles. When sliding begins, these hard asperities would tend to abrade the lining material whose debris would subsequently accumulate to generate a third-body lm. As the spaces between the hard particles lled with debris, the abrasive particles would become submerged and the lining wear rate would slow to a tolerable rate. However, implementation of the etching approach might be tricky. If the hard particles protruded too far, they could wear the linings out too fast and not allow a stable lm to form. Another approach to establishing a transfer lm would be to apply an aggressive running-in procedure to pre-burnish the lm on the rotor surfaces. A third approach would be to formulate a lining material whose chemistry favors rapid transfer to Ti surfaces and lead to more rapid layer development. A commercial product marketed for drum brake linings has been developed especially to form stable transfer layers and to reduce counterface wear [19]. Unfortunately, none of the foregoing approaches to raise the friction coefcient of Ti composites to 0.35 or greater over the range of conditions is without its disadvantages. 5.2. Frictional heating As illustrated for the baseline titanium alloys in Fig. 6, the temperature rise per drag interval at constant speed and load tended to be relatively constant for the materials tested. Therefore, a frictional heating parameter () was used to portray how efciently various sliding combinations converted frictional work into heating the disc surface. It was computed from friction and temperature measurements as follows: = T T T = = W Fx Pvt (1)

where T is the measured temperature rise during a constant speed drag ( C), W the frictional work (J), F the average friction force per drag (N), x the sliding distance per drag (m), P the applied normal force (N), the average friction coefcient per drag, v the velocity of sliding (m/s) and t is the time of sliding (s). In these experiments, was relatively constant for a given material pair, even at different sliding speeds and normal forces. In a series of repeated drags at constant speed and load, the temperature rise per sliding interval was nearly constant even though the starting temperature at the beginning of each drag was increased due to heating from the previous drag. Values of the frictional heating parameter for the materials tested in this work are provided in Table 6. The value for Jurid 539 sliding against a gray cast iron disc under similar conditions is included for comparison. The values for are of the order of 102 to 103 C/J but there is also considerable difference between material pairs. The higher the frictional heating parameter, the hotter the disc gets for a given level of frictional energy input, and conversely, the lower the parameter, the less heat must be dissipated to the surroundings for a given friction level. On that basis, cast iron runs coolest of the alloys tested, baseline Ti alloys run the hottest, and of the hard particle additions, TiB2 , whose ambient temperature thermal conductivity ranges between 65 and 120 W/m K [20], seems to lower more effectively than other additives. The thermal heating parameter for the thermally sprayed coating is the highest, suggesting that for a given level of friction coefcient, these brakes run hotter than the other compositions we tested. As might be expected, the disc surfaces with lower thermal conductivity tended to heat more. High heat in the wheel well of a vehicle is undesirable because it could potentially lead to excessive lining wear from uneven contact, and if conducted through the surrounding hardware, cause sealing or cavitation problems in the air or hydraulic lines that operate the brake actuators. Therefore, titanium rotors, while providing improvements in fade resistance over cast iron, would need more aggressive wheel well cooling. At high speeds, air venting and the diversion of exterior air into the wheel area may

Table 6 Frictional heating parameters (D ) for various pad and disc combinations (averages for data obtained at several loads and speeds) Disk material type Baseline Ti alloys Ti-composites Disk material (see Table 1) Gray cast iron Gray cast iron Ti64 Ti6242 10TiC 10TiC 5TiB WTiC 30TiB 30TiB ThSp ThSp Pad material (see Table 1) J539 PF J539 J539 J539 PF J539 J539 J539 RD589 RD14 RD589 No. of testsa 7 7 3 3 8 8 8 8 8 8 9 1 (kth ) disc (W/m K) 4257b 4257b 6.83 8.21 8.21 6.57 6.30 6.30 Average 103 ( C/J) 1.18 1.23 8.33 7.86 6.33 6.33 2.79 3.49 4.38 4.72 14.60 10.87 Std. Dev. 103 ( C/J) 0.39 0.53 1.16 1.47 1.21 1.42 0.36 0.76 0.43 0.56 2.93

Coated Ti
a b

A test is dened as a series of either 5 or 10 repeated drags at a given sliding speed and load. Data from the compilation in Ref. [2].

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work, but at low speeds, as might be witnessed by a school bus, a trash hauler, or a heavy delivery truck operating in hilly terrain, other design features may be required to enable the use of hotter-running Ti-based brake components. Even while certain of the tested titanium-based couples resisted fade at high temperatures, the heat conducted to the surrounding parts must still be adequately controlled. The development of new lining materials suited for Ti is clearly needed. These materials must provide stable friction over a range of temperatures, resist the higher temperatures from Tis lower thermal conductivity, and still offer adequate wear life. 5.3. Wear Wear of the non-coated Ti discs, as indicated in Table 5, was considerably higher than that of the cast iron. Unfortunately, titanium is prone to adhesive wear and plowing, often accompanied by transfer, as noted in previous work (e.g. [810]). Nevertheless, results for the composites indicated that the inclusion of hard particles improved wear-resistance over the baseline Ti64. It may therefore be possible to further improve the wear resistance of the Ti matrix to match or exceed that of cast iron by employing other types and concentrations of second phase particles. Since the low thermal conductivity of Ti causes it to run hotter than the cast iron under similar frictional conditions, thermal softening and increased reactivity between the disc and the lining materials as the heat builds up may have increased the disc wear rate. Notably, the two commercial lining materials that were used for testing the Ti alloy and composites were originally formulated for use against cast iron and not Ti. Current results suggest that more Ti-compatible lining materials will need to be identied before either the non-coated Ti alloys or the Ti composites can compete successfully with cast iron in terms of frictional stability and wear resistance. The thermal-spray-coated Ti discs, which also ran hotter than the cast iron, were much more wear resistant than the Ti composites. In fact, there was not enough detectable wear on those disc specimens to determine exactly how much less they wore. Results do suggest, however, that of all the materials tested, the thermally spray-coated Ti was a more viable candidate for near-term use in heavy trucks than were the non-coated Ti-based materials. 6. Conclusions The following conclusions were drawn from laboratory-scale disc brake friction and wear experiments on a series of seven titanium-based materials and cast iron: (1) Two Ti structural alloys, Ti64 and Ti6242, behaved similarly, with decreasing friction coefcient as the sliding speed and temperature increased. At 2 m/s, the friction coefcients were well within the normal range for brakes, but at 6 m/s and higher, they were at the lower end of the acceptable range.

(2) Under the current set of friction testing conditions, gray cast iron discs had better wear resistance than those made of Ti alloys and composites. However, adding hard particles to a Ti-based composite can substantially improve its wear resistance, and that suggests the opportunity to improve the wear rates of Ti composites beyond those reported here. (3) A thermal heating parameter was dened to quantify the conversion of frictional work into heat, and the higher its value, the more a given friction coefcient will heat the disc specimen surface. The highest values were measured for the thermally sprayed coating on Ti and the lowest for cast iron. The thermal heating parameter for composite materials fell somewhere in between. (4) A key to developing new, light weight and corrosionresistant disc brake materials is to optimize the characteristics of both tribosurfaces. In the current work, the disc material was the primary variable with only a few lining materials being tested. Given the present results, however, further efforts will be needed to identify or develop suitable lining materials for use with disc brake rotors whose contact surfaces are composed of titanium alloys or composites thereof. (5) Relative to the Ti-containing material combinations tested, the Ti alloy discs coated by a proprietary thermal spray coating and run against a highly metallic lining material had the most promising combination of good elevated-temperature frictional response and very low wear. (6) The characterization of transfer lms that form on Ti-disc surfaces under various sliding conditions were not a part of this study; however, such work is recommended, especially when new lining materials for Ti brake rotor surfaces are developed in the future. Acknowledgments This research was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efciency and Renewable Energy, Ofce of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies, under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725 with UT-Battelle LLC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Special appreciation is offered to Tom Geer, who prepared polished cross-sections for these studies and to Dr. Hsin Wang for making measurements of thermal conductivity. Both are staff members in the Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Finally, the suggestions of the editors and referees, and the advice of Jerry Martino, President, Red Devil Brakes, Mt. Pleasant, Pennsylvania, were greatly appreciated. References
[1] L.C. Buckman, Commercial Vehicle Braking Systems: Air Brakes, ABS and Beyond, Soc. Auto. Engr., SP-1405, Warrendale, PA, 1998, 172 pp. [2] P.J. Blau, Compositions, Functions, and Testing of Friction Brake Materials and Their Additives, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Technical Report ORNL/TM 2001/64, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 2001, 24 pp. [3] G. Nicholson, Facts About Friction, Gedoran Publishing, Winchester, VA, 1995, 260 pp.

P.J. Blau et al. / Wear 263 (2007) 12021211 [4] S. Ozcan, P. Filip, Microstructure and wear mechanisms in C/C composites, Wear 259 (2005) 642650. [5] V. Kervorkjian, Ceramic Brake Rotor for Passenger Cars, Bull. Am. Ceram. Soc. 82 (4) (2002) 2729. [6] E.H. Kraft, Opportunities for Low Cost Titanium in Reduced Fuel Consumption, Improved Emissions, and Enhanced Durability Heavy-Duty Vehicles, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Tech. Report ORNL/Sub/ 4000013062/1, Ofce of Sci. and Tech. Information, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, 2002, 59 pp. [7] J. Sweet, STOP! Improve your Corvettes braking performance almost 36 percent with Red Devil pads and rotors, Corvette Fever, May 2004. [8] K.G. Budinski, Tribological properties of titanium alloys, Wear 151 (1991) 203217. [9] A. Molinari, T.B. Straffelini, T. Bacci, Dry sliding wear mechanisms of the Ti6Al4V alloy, Wear 208 (1997) 105112. [10] J. Qu, P.J. Blau, N.S. Kulkarni, Unusual sliding friction and wear behavior of titanium alloys against metal, polymer, and ceramic counterfaces, Wear 258 (2005) 13481356. [11] P.J. Blau, Research on Non-Traditional Materials for Friction Surfaces in Heavy Vehicle Disc Brakes, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Report, ORNL/TM-2004/265, 2004, 32 pp. [12] ASTM G-171-03, Standard Test Method for Scratch Hardness of Materials Using a Diamond Stylus, ASTM Book of Standards, vol. 03.02, ASTM West Conshohocken, PA, 2005, pp. 719725.

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[13] Specimens prepared by Dynamet Technology, Inc., Burlington, Massachusetts. [14] Prepared for this study by W. Peter, Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, TN, 2006. [15] Red Devil Brakes, Inc., Mt. Pleasant, PA, USA. [16] P.J. Blau, J.C. McLaughlin, Effects of water lms and sliding speed on the frictional behavior of truck disc brake materials, Tribol. Int. 36 (10) (2003) 709715. [17] P.J. Blau, H.M. Meyer III, Characteristics of wear particles produced during friction tests of conventional and non-conventional disc brake materials, Wear 255 (2003) 12611269. [18] P.J. Blau, B.C. Jolly, Wear of truck brake lining materials using three different test methods, Wear 259 (Part 1) (2005) 10221030. [19] Cohesive FrictionTM , trademark of Motion Control Industries, Inc. Charlottesville, Virginia. [20] W.J. Lackey, D.P. Stinton, G.A. Cerny, L.L. Fehrenbacher, A.C. Schaffhauser, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Ceramic Components for Heat Engines, Hakone, Japan, 1983. [21] R.L. Hecht, R.B. Dinwiddie, W.D. Porter, H. Wang, Thermal Transport Properties of Grey Cast Irons, Soc. of Automotive Engineers, 1996 (paper number 962126). [22] TIMET Corporation, Internet On-line Alloy Data Sheets, Denver, CO, 2002.