Recent Advancements in Friction Research for Disc Brake Systems
A special issue of Lubricants (ISSN 2075-4442).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 416
Special Issue Editors
Interests: sustainable brake rotor material; friction behavior; tribocorrosion; tribological testing and characterization; surface modification for tribology improvement
Interests: tribology; wear evaluations; material development; material characterization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The tribology of automotive disc brake systems encompasses a complex interplay of friction, wear, and heat transfer, significantly influencing vehicle braking systems' performance, safety, and reliability. The tribological behavior of the disc–pad interface is critical for a braking system’s efficiency. The coefficient of friction between the disc and pad materials plays a crucial role in determining the braking performance. The interaction between friction pairs exerts the greatest impact on braking performance across various brake regimes. Factors such as sliding velocity and contact pressure influence the coefficient of friction, which subsequently affects brake noise and vibrations caused by the stick-slip phenomenon.
Notably, the selection of the pad material can significantly influence tribological behavior. Semi-metallic pads increase the temperature over the wear track by approximately 20% compared to asbestos pads; however, asbestos pads experience approximately 2.5 times more material removal during sliding. Similarly, the surface modification and composition of the brake rotor can also alter the friction behavior of this brake component. This observation underscores the importance of material selection for optimizing the performance of a tribological system. Furthermore, it is imperative to determine an adequate coefficient of friction under both cold and warm conditions to ensure the safety of the disc–pad couple when modifying or developing friction materials for automotive applications.
This Special Issue aims to publish novel research addressing recent advancements in friction research for disc brake systems. Original research articles and reviews examining topics within this Special Issue's scope are solicited. Its scope encompasses the following key focus areas.
- Fundamental study of tribological behavior of friction couples, including modeling and simulation studies.
- Friction characteristics of brake components.
- Relationship between disc–pad interactions and thermal and frictional characteristics.
- Modifying brake pad composition to improve friction performance.
- Assessing the effectiveness of car brake pads through experiments—rig and vehicle tests.
- Tribocorrosion and corrosion cleanability evaluation.
- Altering brake disc surfaces to enhance braking performance.
- Interplay of the disc–pad couple and brake noise and vibrations.
- Novel friction couple material: friction analysis, property examination, and evaluation.
Dr. Samuel Awe
Dr. Lucia Lattanzi
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Lubricants is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- disc brake systems
- tribological behavior
- surface modification
- coating
- tribocorrosion
- friction couple
- wear
- particle emissions
- dyno testing
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