It is well-known that much more feasible and robust development tests are required within the Automobile Industry in order to develop new projects within the timing demands and competitive pressures of the industry.
Giving the increase of the so called Global Development Projects, it is necessary to have tests which can represent vehicle usage in several types of environments, weather and usage conditions. In some of vehicle systems, such as braking systems, tests need to be accomplished in different parts of the world due to several response influence factors, such: drive conditions, temperature and humidity.
The objective of this paper is to present an important research about brake development, focusing on friction material life time (wear) and brake noise (NVH) responses. Worldwide test procedures must be developed, if possible, or a correlation between brake tests which can be run in different regions, so that a high level of confidence can be developed in a successful outcome for vehicles to be sold in different markets.
More specifically, the purpose of this work is to correlate four Ford Motor Company routes for Brake Durability Testing. The first one, performed in Los Angeles City, USA, well known as Los Angeles City Traffic (LACT) is used for brake systems homologation in North America; The second one, performed in Mexico City, Mexico, known as Mexico City Traffic (MCT), which is actually used to homologate vehicles for the Mexican market; The third is a simulated city traffic, performed within Ford's TPG (Tatui Proving Ground), Brazil, known as P3-19TT and the last, performed in Sorocaba City, Brazil, known as Sorocaba City Traffic (SCT), both used to homologate vehicles for South American Market.
In an effort to have a robust comparison, all four procedures, LACT, MCT, P3-19TT and SCT, were performed with exactly the same vehicle model, brake system and friction materials in order to reduce possible variances. As a result of this research, we will be able to state how similar the routes are and, also, comment on the correlation for North American, Mexican, and South American markets.