CAREER EPISODE 1

INTRODUCTION
CE 1.1 This career episode covers the “Development of Alternative Brake Pads using
Cornhusks”. The Project started on October 2017 and lasted till September 2019.
This project was undertaken as part of my university work. Obafemi Awolowo
University is one of the foremost universities established in Nigeria between 1961
– 1962. The university’s goal is to advance the frontiers of knowledge through
research. The university is made of centres of research and faculties. One of such
faculties committed to engineering and technology is the Faculty of Technology
housing the Department of Materials Science and Engineering where this research
was carried out.

BACKGROUND
CE 1.2 Brake pads are steel backing plates with friction material bound to the surface
facing the brake disc. They are components of disks brakes used predominantly in
automobiles. When we apply brakes, the brake pads or shoes, squeeze against the
brake drums or rotors, converting kinetic energy into thermal energy via friction.

CE 1.3 Disc brakes operate in similar way except that while drum brakes are enclosed
disc brakes are exposed to environment. By the arrangement, particulate materials
that gradually wear from brake pads are carried away by breeze into the
surroundings especially those from disc brakes.

CE 1.4 Asbestos has some few engineering properties that makes it suitable for inclusion
in brake linings. Some of these include its good sound absorption, resistance to
heat, fire, and affordability. Brake pads generally consist of asbestos fibres
embedded in polymeric matrix along with some other ingredients. Use of asbestos
fibres is no longer acceptable because of its carcinogenic nature leading to
development of new asbestos-free friction materials for brake pads.

CE 1.5 Consequently, researchers have turned to non-asbestos friction materials as an

alternative. Current state of knowledge has seen researchers replace asbestos with
organic materials such as bagasse, palm kernel shells (PKS), and banana peels.
The typical formulations consist of more than 10 ingredients and more than 300
materials of different brands.

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CE 1.6 The concentration of industrial and agricultural wastes informed my decision to
consider corn husks as an alternative filler in brake pads. The coefficient of
friction of maize husk was determined as 0.5 at density of 45-80Ib/ft 3.
Comparatively, friction coefficient in the range of 0.30-0.70 is normally desirable
when using brake lining material. Based on these factors, I conceived cornhusk as
a possible friction material alternative to asbestos.

CE 1.7 The main objective is to develop asbestos free brake pads by using of cornhusks
as a friction material. Performance evaluation of the produced samples include
density, hardness, wear rate, ash content tests, porosity, and compressive strength.
The significance of this work lies in the advantage that it provides to our local
automotive industry while minimizing the danger caused by asbestos to health
and environment.

CE 1.8 The project team consisted of my supervisor, project leader (me) and project
associates. My reporting hierarchy is shown below:

Obafemi
Awolowo
University

Faculty of
Technology

Materials Science
and Engineering
Department

HOD

Supervisor

Project Leader
(Me)

Project Associates

CE 1.9 Achieving my objectives, I undertook the following work responsibilities:

 Research extensively on brake pads, brake pads production, and composite

manufacture.

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  Source and process raw materials, ensuring they adhere to standards
needed to manufacture the specimen brake pads.
 Process and product design.
 Quality control, ensuring all project deliverables are met.
 Documentation and effective communication of each project phase
through to completion with my supervisor.

PERSONAL ENGINEERING ACTIVITY

CE 1.10 I developed the brake pads from carefully selected materials and evaluated and
my documented test methods. I used Phenolic resin (phenol formaldehyde), corn
husks particles, steel dust, graphite and silicon carbide as shown in Figure below:

Silicon Carbide Corn Husks Graphite Steel Dust

CE 1.11 I have explained the function of each of the chosen materials as below:
Table 1. Materials used and their functions
S/N Material Function
1 Phenolic Resin (Phenol Formaldehyde) Binder / Matrix
2 Silicon Carbide Heat Resistant Material
3 Steel Dust Abrasive
4 Graphite Lubricating Material
5 Corn Husk Filler Material

CE 1.12 I carefully selected the base raw material, and removed its impurities. Thereafter,
it was crushed with hammer and milled into powder using ball milling machine
(Model 87002 Limoges-France, A50……43). After this, it was sieved to pass 100
and 200μm screen apertures.

CE 1.13 I adopted the technique of powder metallurgy. The production of brake pad
consisted of a series of unit operations including mixing, uniaxial pressing,
curing, post-curing, and finishing. The product formulation was discussed with
my supervisor and modifications taken into consideration before production.

CE 1.14 I poured the desired amounts of phenolic resin (phenol formaldehyde) into a
separate container and appropriate quantity of hardener added; with resin to

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 hardener percentage of 64.3% to 35.7% to form the binder, that was thoroughly
stirred for about 10 minutes to obtain a uniform mixture. I measured into the
mixing vessel and thoroughly mixed for 15 minutes to ensure homogeneity.

CE 1.15 I poured the binder mixture into the powdered friction material mixture and
stirred further to obtain a paste-like homogenous mixture. The formed paste was
poured into mould cavities and allowed to cure for 90 minutes. The general
methodological phases are shown in Figure below.

CE 1.16 The formulations used to produce the brake pads are shown in Table 2; I used
Data Analysis Tool Pak of the Microsoft Excel Spread Sheet for design and
analysis of the test results.

Table 2. Specimen Formulations in (g*)

S/N INGREDIENTS A B C D E
1 Corn Husks 40 45 50 55 60
2 Silicon Carbide (SiC) 26 21 16 11 6
3 Graphite 5 5 5 5 5
4 Resin 14 14 14 14 14
5 Steel Dust 15 15 15 15 15
g* represents grams (a unit of mass)

CE 1.17 The picture below shows the shows the samples of organic brake pads produced
using cornhusks as filler.

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 Figure 2. General Methodological Phases
CE 1.18 I tested the resistance of the composites to indentation through the Brinell
hardness testing equipment to BS240, using a Tensometer (M500-25KN, Gunt
Hamburg Hardness Tester and WP300) pressing hardened steel ball with diameter
D into a test specimen. Based on ASTM specification, I used a 10 mm diameter
steel ball and the load applied P kept stable at 3000 kg/f.

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CE 1.19 I measured the diameter of the indentation d along two perpendicular directions,
using an optical micrometre screw gauge. I took the mean value and incorporated
into Eq. (1) to obtain the Brinell Hardness Number (BHN).

BHN=2 P ÷ πD( D−√ ( D2 – d 2 )) (1)

Where: P - the load applied; D - the diameter of hardened steel ball into a test
specimen; d - the diameter of indentation.

CE 1.20 I carried out the compressive strength test using the Tensometric Machine. I
subjected the samples of diameter 29.40 mm to compressive force, loaded
continuously until failure occurred. I then recorded the load at which failure
occurred.

CE 1.21 I weighed about 1.20g ± 0.1 g of the sample in a cooled crucible previously oven
dried by heating in a furnace at 550 0C for 1 hour. Then I charred the samples by
heating them on a hot plate thereafter. I later took the charred samples into the
furnace and heated at 5500C for 1 hour, then cooled in a desiccator and weighed.
This cycle of heating, cooling, and weighing was repeated until a constant weight
was obtained. The % ash was obtained as, Eq. (2):

% ash=(W 2−W 0) /(W 1−W 0)×100 (2)

Where:W0 - weight of empty crucible; W1 - weight of crucible + sample; W2 -

weight of crucible and residue i.e., after cooling.
CE 1.22 I found that the true density of the samples was determined by weighing the
samples mass on a digital weighing machine, which would divide the volume.
The volume was obtained via liquid displacement method using the Archimedes
principle.

Density (ρ)=( M ÷V ) ×10 (3)

Where: M - the mass of test piece (g); V - the measuring volume of test piece
(cm3) by liquid displacement method.
CE 1.23 I measured the wear rate for the samples using pin on disc machine by sliding it
over a cast iron surface at a load of 1 kg, sliding speed of 125 and 250 rev/min,
and sliding distance of 2000 and 4000 m - at room temperature. I found the initial
weight of the samples using a single pan electronic weighing machine with an
accuracy of 0.01 g.

CE 1.24 I pressed the pin against the counterpart rotating against a cast iron disc (hardness
65 HRC) of counter surface roughness of 0.3μm by applying the load. After

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 running through a fixed sliding distance, I removed the samples, cleaned with
acetone, dried, and weighed to determine the weight loss due to wear.

CE 1.25 For the porosity test, I used a sample of diameter 29.40 mm with a different
height thickness. The specimen was weighed to the nearest mg, and then soaked
in oil and water container at 90-1000C for 8 hours. I left the samples for 24 hours
and then took them out from the oil container. Finally, I weighed the test samples
to the nearest mg.

CE 1.26 I carried out the tests using the following standards: MS ISO 6310:2003, PART 4;
JIS D 4418 – 1996; SAE J160 Jun80; JIS D 4418 – 1996; MS 474:PART 10:
2003; MS 474: PART 2: 2003 for the hardness, wear rate, porosity, density, ash
test and compressive strength.

CE 1.27 I worked with lab technicians and my supervisor to carry out the tests. I learnt to
use the machines, shared resources on how the machines operated. My
interpersonal and communication skills improved and dealing with my supervisor
was seamless without any confusion. I used available PPE when working on the
workshop floor.

CE 1.28 The Brinell hardness test showed the variation of hardness with composition with
sieve grades of 100μm and 200μm.

Figure 4. Variation of hardness with composition

CE 1.29 The results showed that the samples 100μm sieve grade of different formulation
A-E, have the highest hardness value of 254, 235, 228, 222 and 211 HB,
respectively because of the reduced particle size of the cornhusk fibre.

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CE 1.30 The compressive strength of the samples follows similar trends to that of the
hardness value, the higher the density, the higher the compressive strength. The
density decreased as the cornhusk particles increased in composition and particle
size. Thus, the increase in the volume of the particle size led to a less closely
packed density. This also leads to a decrease in homogeneity of the friction lining
composites. The results showed that the higher the density, the higher the
compressive strength, due to close packing of the particles leading to reduced
interatomic spaces between the particles.

CE 1.31 Figure 6. Variation of density with composition

CE 1.32 The percentage value of the ash content increased as the particle size increased.
The increase in ash content, as sieve grade increases is because of an increase in
pores sizes as the sieve grade increases. With increasing pore sizes, less close
packing, the charring of the specimens yielded a higher ash content. The lower the
particle size at optimum composition, the better the dispersion and lower the ash
content value.

CE 1.33 The results of the wear rate showed an increase in the wear rate as particle size
and composition increased because of a lower bonding ability of the resin to the
filler – Corn Husk Particles. The wear rate is a very important factor in the
determining the friction coefficient.

CE 1.34 I observed lower porosity of the specimen for composition with lower sieve
grade. Compositions of 100μm generally show lower porosity compared to
compositions 200μm.

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CE 1.35 The increase in wear rate as particle size increased. The plotted graph showed a
higher elevation, which is a higher wear rate for formulations of the 200μm
formulations. The results of the wear rate showed an increase in the wear rate as
particle size and composition increased. The increase in wear, which is a loss of
material due to mechanical action due to a lower bonding ability of the resin to
the filler – Corn Husk Fiber - as percentage composition of filler increases.
CE 1.36 The figure below relates the wear to the Brinell hardness, and it shows that the
lower the wear rate, the higher the hardness value. This inverse relationship
between the wear rate and the hardness can be attributed to the reduced porosity
as wear rate reduces.

CE 1.37 The deductions and interpretations of the graph from my research was accepted
by my supervisor. We had constant interaction to discuss on the analysis
cognizant of the processing, structure, properties, and performance of the
produced brake pad.

CE 1.38 I collaborated well with the project associates. We had meetings to discuss
challenges and approach, starting from specimen formulation design, stretching to
project completion. We mitigated the challenged of the pad removal by applying
talc on the mould walls before compaction.

CE 1.39 I observed, while using the hydraulic press, that the press compaction will not be
adequate when pressed on the mantelpiece, because of the distance between the
press head and the specimen. Addressing that after discussion, the press
mantelpiece was adjusted to allow maximum pressure on the particulates.

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CE 1.40 My research results showed that that samples containing 100μm of formulation
(A-E) gave better properties than those of 200μm formulation. Hence, the lower
the sieve grades of cornhusk particles, the better the properties. I compared the
100μm sieve size results with that of commercial brake pads (asbestos based) as
shown in Table 3 below. The results are in close agreement. However, the higher
hardness value is due to the presence of SiC, which helps to increase the hardness
of the brake pad composite.

CE 1.41 I did research using Internet sources, journals, and books, some of which are
reported below:

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 [1] Blau P.J., Compositions, functions and testing of friction brake materials and their
additives, Being a report by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for U.S Dept. of
Energy, 2001.
[2] Aigbodion V.S., Akadike U., Hassan S.B., Asuke F., Agunsoye J.O., Development
of asbestos free brake pad using bagasse, Tribology in Industry, 2010, 32, p. 12-
18.
[3] Olabisi A.I, Ademoh N.A., Development and evaluation of maize husks (asbestos
- free) based brake pad, Industrial Engineering letters, 2015, 5 (2), p. 67 – 80.
[4] Elakhame Z.U., Alhassan O.A., Samuel A.E., Development and production of
brake pads from Palm Kernel composites, International Journal of Scientific and
Engineering Research, 2014, 5, p. 735 – 44.
[5] Edokpia R.O., Aigbodion V.S., Obiorah O.B., Atuanya C. U., Evaluation of the
properties of eco-friendly brake pad using eggshell particles–gum, Arabic
ScienceDirectR, Elsevier B.V. DOI: 10.1016/j.rinp.2014.06.003, 2014.
[6] Bashar D., Peter, Madakson B., Joseph M., Material selection and production of a
cold-worked composite brake pad, World Journal of Engineering and Pure and
Applied Science (WJEPAS), 2012, 2 (3):96.
[7] Gurunath PV and Bijwe J., Journal of engineering tribology, 2007.
[8] Osterle W., Griepentrog M., Gross T., Urban I., Chemical and microstructural
changes induced by friction and wear of brakes, Wear, 2001, 251, p. 1469–1476.
[9] Talib R.J., Mohmad S.S., Ramlan K.,Selection of best formulation for semi-
metallic brake friction materials development, Powder Metallurgy, Dr. Katsuyoshi
Kondoh (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-51-0071-3, 2012.
[10] Masrat B., Sheikh S.S., Owais B., Friction and Wear Beahviour of Disc Brake Pad
Material Using Banana Peel Powder, International Journal of Research
Engineering and Technology, 2015, 4, p. 650 – 59.

CE 1.42 The produced brake pad properties were in close agreement with commercial
brake pads (Table 3). However, using agricultural waste as filler in its production
made it more cost effective, environmentally sustainable, and safer to the health.

CE 1.43 I mapped out the research project using the project management process group –
initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing. I received training on
using the statistical tool known as the Yates Analysis and project management.

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CE 1.44 As part of my project, I did detailed documentation and published a report. I
defended my findings within my department and published an article in Leonardo
Electronic Journal of Practices and Technology.

SUMMARY

CE 1.45 This for me.

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