Study of the Influence of the Copper Component’s Shape on the Properties of the Friction Material Used in Brakes—Part One, Tribological Properties

Brakes play an extremely important role in any vehicle. In today’s automotive industry, friction brakes are most often used, in which the composite material of the brake pad cooperates with a cast iron disc. While little can be modified in the case of discs, in the case of pads, the composition of the material used for its production can have an almost unlimited number of possibilities. Both scientists and manufacturers invent and test new combinations to achieve the desired end result. A similar task was undertaken in this work. Bearing in mind the fact that materials commonly used as reinforcing materials generate undesirable threats in the production process, it was decided to check whether this role could be taken over by another substance that is already present in brake pads; this substance is copper. A number of samples containing copper, in the form of powder and fibers, were made, and then the samples were subjected to tribological tests in order to determine the coefficient of friction and abrasive wear rate. The ball-cratering research method was used, and the Taguchi process optimization method was used to plan the experiment. As a result of the tests, it was found that the replacement of aramid fibers with copper fibers does not significantly affect the value of COF and the abrasive wear rate.