|
As a result of carefully focused and detailed work, Continental has succeeded in developing new brakes which weigh between 10 and 40 percent less than before, depending on the individual components. This development can make a significant contribution towards reducing CO2 emissions because lighter vehicles use less fuel. The particular challenge when developing brakes which weigh less is not to compromise safety.
One means of saving weight when designing brake components is to replace the materials used so far, such cast iron or steel, with lighter materials, such as aluminum, other light alloys or even plastic. However, the use of alternative materials is currently restricted to aluminum since extremely high demands are made of these materials. During its life, a brake will be operated several million times, subjecting it to great pressure; the material is also exposed to moisture and road salt and so far only cast iron, steel and aluminum have shown that they are able to cope with such demanding conditions. Due to its high cost, aluminum is the material of choice for luxury-class vehicles, for example in a new aluminum fixed caliper brake.
The objective for Continental's development engineers is to develop lighter braking systems – using traditional materials with CAD software. A good example is the 2FNR-Al aluminum brake caliper housing whose shape the development engineers have been able to improve using these state-of-the-art simulation and topology optimization methods. Despite bigger recesses and reduced wall thicknesses, meaning less material is required, the re-designed housing provides the same degree of stability as the tried and tested model, but still weighs 440 grams less than its initial weight of 4,185 grams.
Brake lining backplates can also be slimmed down to some extent without limiting their functionality. The standard metal thickness used so far is 6.5mm throughout. But this is only necessary over certain areas of the plate where the greatest stresses occur. In some places, the optimized backplates are only up to 4mm thick with reinforcement provided in areas particularly subject to stress, and this can lead to the weight being reduced from 424 to 300 grams. For a pair of brake pads this is a not inconsiderable weight saving of roughly 250 grams.
|
