Tests and Studies on Brake Abutment Clip for Floating Caliper

This paper lists and summarizes several tests and studies designed specifically for brake abutment clips that are used in a floating caliper braking system. All tests and studies are categorized mainly into two sections: geometry-related and surface-related. They are single component level tests and studies, instead of caliper level. Among all the listed, two major studies are introduced in detail with results analysis: coating durability study in axial direction and coating durability study in tangential direction. They focus only on a standardized and simplified clip design. Coating durability study in axial direction simulates the brake applications in daily usage, which brake pad is moving within a small travel in axial direction on the abutment clip with hundreds of thousands of cycles. Coating durability study in tangential direction simulates the severe impact from brake pad to abutment clip, e.g. during emergency brakes. The detailed test setup, procedures, important assumption or deviation from real caliper assembly and comparison results on different variants are all documented and summarized. Same tests can be easily implemented to all kinds of abutment clip designs for various caliper platforms, so that the functionality and performance of different clip designs can be evaluated and compared, without the influence from different caliper designs. This is especially beneficial when one abutment clip design is used over multiple caliper platforms. The purpose of this paper is to provide some thoughts and create a guideline on all single component level tests and studies that can be performed to evaluate abutment clip design used in floating caliper brake system.