Development and Characterization of Coir Fibre Reinforced Composite Brake Friction Materials

This paper presents the development and characterization of new natural fibre reinforced composite brake friction materials with a view to replace the asbestos fibre material whose dust is carcinogenic and has harmful effect on human beings. Five different laboratory formulations were prepared with varying coir fibre contents such as, 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 % volume fraction along with binder, friction modifiers, abrasive material and solid lubricant using powder metallurgy technique. The properties examined are porosity, microstructural morphology, hardness, compressive strength and wear using tensiometer, scanning electron microscopy, hardness tester, universal testing machine and CHASE dynamometer wear machine, respectively. Experimental results showed that higher density, lower porosity, higher compressive strength and lower wear weight loss were obtained from 5 % volume fraction of coir fibre reinforced composite. The microstructure reveals uniform distribution of coir fibre in the matrix as well. It can be concluded that 5 % volume fraction of coir fibre showed better physio-mechanical and wear properties compared to other formulations. Hence, natural coir fibre can be a potential candidate filler material for the mass-scale fabrication of asbestos-free new brake pad without any harmful effect.