Vol.6 (2016) No. 4 ISSN: 2088-5334 Evaluation of Wear in Aftermarket Brake Pads for Enhancing Braking Performance in a Passenger Vehicle Mohd Zaki Bahrom # , Eida Nadirah Roslin # , Muhammad Amir Arzmi # , Muhammad Khairuddin Zainal # # Automotive Engineering Section, Universiti Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia France Institute, Selangor, Malaysia E-mail: 1 zakibahrom@unikl.edu.my; 2 eidanadirah@unikl.edu.my; 3 amir_arzmi@yahoo.com; 4 this_boy90@yahoo.com Abstract— Nowadays, due to the high demands from the independence automotive service centers; there are many aftermarket brake pads available at spare parts shops and sold at reasonable prices. Several types of brake pads are available in the market such as semi-metallic and Non-Asbestos brake pads. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the wear of after-market brake pad performance under the normal driving conditions (highway and non-highway). Three types of aftermarket brake pads that mainly used and sold by independent service shop were selected in this study. The data of the wear in thicknesses losses and weight percentage losses were recorded. The results show that brake pad of non- Asbestos Organic type gives the highest wear loss and create a lot of dust. For semi-metallic brake pad type, the result shows the lowest mass loss. Therefore, it is important to select the suitable type of after- market brake pads in order to get balance between cost and quality. Keywords— brake pad; brake pad material; thickness; wear; brake disc; friction materials I. INTRODUCTION Nowadays, the automotive parts manufacturers are able to offer bundles of high quality products that comparable with the OEM manufacturers. This includes the brake pads market. Generally, brake pads consist of composition of selected materials with their unique friction formula in order to meet the performance criteria of the vehicles. Most of the aftermarket brake pads manufacturers are able to offer high quality or OEM equivalent brake pads with the reasonable prices. Each manufacturer has their unique friction formulas in order to meet the performance criteria of the vehicles. Generally, the manufacturer will not reveal the composition materials of their brake pads due to their proprietary of product information [1]. Due to this reason, only the general information about the material composition in the brake pads will be labelled by the manufacturers. Usually if the brake pad was labelled as semi-metallic, it was composed of semi- metallic materials such as carbon-fiber, steel, wool and graphite as lubrications. The ratio of composition would be unknown and different manufacturers will be using their own formulas. It is important to know the formula because it will relates to the friction formulas which are important in measuring the stopping performance as well as producing the low amounts of dust and controlling the engine noise of the vehicle. The demands on the brake pads are such that they must not decompose or break down in such a way that the friction coefficient with the brake disc is compromised, at high temperatures exhibit a stable and constituent friction coefficient with the brake disc [2]. Basically, the manufacturing of brake pads includes five primary of materials composition with a different function. In addition, the ratios of these compositions vary widely in the different formulations and applications and will contribute to the improvement of braking performances [3-4]. The five primary of materials composition and its application are shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 1: Example of the Materials Composition in Aftermarket Brake Pad Manufacturing Since there are many different types of brake pads sold in the market, the users now need to wisely choose the appropriate brake pads to be used in their vehicle not only limited to the pricing aspect but also to have the longer durability or life cycle as well as its effectiveness in improving the braking system of the vehicle. Therefore, this 553