Effect of Disc Brake and Drum Brake on the Durability of Front Shock Absorber Tube of a Motorcycle

The braking systems for vehicles are undergoing a continuous development and improvement. The recent trend in motorcycle industry is to go for front disc brake system to have the advantage of less stopping distance and efficient braking over conventional drum brakes. In India the present practice of replacing the drum brake assembly with disc brake assembly, without redesigning of complete assembly of shock absorber may adversely affect its durability. This paper presents a detailed study made through service load data acquisition and analysis on the strength of front shock absorber tube.

It was observed that with disc brake there is considerable increase in bending stress on the inner steel tube of shock absorber during braking. This paper highlights the comparison of strain distribution of the shock absorber tubes in disc brake and drum brake and concludes with a need for better design/material for shock absorber tube.

A study has also been carried to investigate the effect of motorcycle speed prior to braking and different ways of applying the brakes on the inner shock absorber tube bending stresses.