Closer Look at Gray Iron Rotor Material to Understand Metal Pickup and Brake Noise Tendency

Developing a quiet brake system has been a constant task for OEMs as well as their brake suppliers. As a major component in the brake system, the rotor plays a significant role in brake noise performance. Owning to the cost and damping property advantages, gray iron is still the most widely used material for brake rotor application. When pads/rotor coupling is examined to address noise issues, however, most efforts have been on pads and insulators. Rotor specifications are rather general and the component is typically accepted based on grades defined by mechanical property minimum (mostly in G3000 SAE J431). Nevertheless, we have found that gray iron within a grade can have wide microstructure variations, and the deviation (especially on the rotor friction surface) can critically affect the noise propensity in addition to friction output performance and wear characteristics.

In this work, the impact of brake disc material on brake noise and output performance is investigated. More specified microstructure descriptions are recommended.