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Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 516 – 522

12th International Conference "Organization and Traffic Safety Management in large cities",
SPbOTSIC-2016, 28-30 September 2016, St. Petersburg, Russia

Methods of Assessing the Influence of Operational Factors on Brake

System Efficiency in Investigating Traffic Accidents
Nickolay Podoprigora 1a*, Viktor Dobromirov 1b, Alexander Pushkarev 1c, Vladimir
Lozhkin 2d
1
Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, 4 2nd Krasnoarmeyskaya str., Saint Petersburg, 190005, Russia
2
Saint Petersburg University of State Fire Service of EMERCOM of Russia, 149 Moskovskij prospekt, 19610, Russia

Abstract

The article is devoted to investigation of some operational factors affecting the response time of a brake system and substantiation
of the need for their consideration in reconstructing and investigating traffic accidents. The aim of this article is to publish proposals
for improving the traffic accidents (TA) assessment methodology by considering extra operational factors that increase the braking
time and the length of stopping distance of a vehicle fitted with a hydraulic brake drive. Experiments have proved that there is
regularity in influence of the braking fluid boiling temperature on the total braking system response time. A coefficient has been
calculated and substantiated that takes into account this influence on designed braking time values and vehicle stopping distance.
2016Published
© 2017 The Authors. Published
by Elsevier B.V.by Elsevier
This B.V.
is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 12th International Conference "Organization and Traffic
Peer-review under responsibility
Safety Management of the organizing committee of the 12th International Conference “Organization and Traffic Safety
in large cities".
Management in large cities”
Keywords: Vehicle, traffic accident investigation, hydraulic drive braking system, braking system condition, braking process, braking efficiency.

1. Introduction

According to statistics, braking process is the reason in most of traffic accidents. The main goal of each judicial
motor vehicle expert is to establish, as truly as possible, the real cause of a traffic accident and determine the driver’s
technical capability to prevent it. However, in carrying out the traffic accident investigations there are still methods

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +0-000-000-0000 ; fax: +0-000-000-0000 .

E-mail address: n.v.podoprigora@gmail.coma*, viktor.dobromirov@mail.rub, lukinskiy@mail.ru c

2352-1465 © 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of the organizing committee of the 12th International Conference “Organization and Traffic Safety
Management in large cities”
doi:10.1016/j.trpro.2017.01.084
 Nickolay Podoprigora et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 516 – 522 517

which are not considering a number of operational factors impacting the efficiency of a braking system response
[Borovsky et al. (1984), Evtyukov and Vasilyev (2012), Domke et al. (2009), Ilarionov et al. (1989), Judicial Motor
Vehicle Investigation (1980)]. Analysis of the main designed dependencies related to determination of the vehicle
travel speed (Va), time (t) and braking distance (Sо), used by motor vehicle experts in the process of assessment of
traffic accidents, showed that they ignored such operational factors as actual strength of the braking effort on the brake
pedal, front and rear axles and the brake pad wear. The need to consider these factors and the methods of correcting
the designed dependencies taking into account their influence on the expert’s final conclusion concerning the driver’s
ability to prevent the accident are discussed in articles [Podoprigora et al. (2012/2013), Evtyukov and Podoprigora
(2012)].
The aim of this article is to publish the results of investigations and proposals for improving the methods of traffic
accident assessment methodology by considering such additional operating factor which causes the increase of the
brake time and stopping distance of a vehicle fitted with hydraulically driven brakes as the actual condition of the
braking fluid.

2. Main part

The authors have investigated the technical condition of a vehicle fitted with disc brakes and hydraulic drive, which
made it possible to evaluate the influence of the qualitative composition of braking fluid characterized by its boiling
temperature (T) on the braking system’s total response time (tr).
The braking fluid, as a functional element of the braking control system, must meet all the requirements applied to
its operating quality, one of which is boiling temperature. This is an essential indicator that determines the braking
system workability in conditions of maximum permissible operating temperature of the brake hydraulic drive
elements. In most of modern braking fluids the boiling temperature comes down in operation due to high hygroscopic
property when water comes into the system because of the moisture condensation from the air. Therefore, during
operation, in addition to the boiling temperature of the "dry" braking fluid, the boiling temperature is also measured
of "humidified" fluid, i.e. the temperature at which the fluid will “boil” following a certain period of operation (from
1.5 to 2 years).
The investigations have shown that in case of urgent braking the brake pad temperature may rise over 600°С, while
the braking fluid can heat up over 150°С. High temperature in braking mechanisms, together with hygroscopic
property of the fluid, may result in «watering» and lead to pre-timely aging. These phenomena adversely impact the
condition of rubber cup-type seals of the braking cylinders and contribute to metal components corrosion.
The biggest danger in braking system malfunctions is formation of gas and vapor bubbles in braking fluids. They
are formed in case of overheating of braking mechanisms to high temperatures or because of the low boiling
temperature of the fluid itself as well as due to its heightened water content. When the braking control mechanism is
activated the bubbles are compressed. As far as the volume of the main brake cylinder is normally 5–15 ml, even more
intensive pushing of the brake pedal may not result in the pressure growth in the system to the required level. In this
case the brake system doesn’t respond instantly because of vapor plugs in the system. The beginning of a vapor phase
formation in brake fluids during heating and, as a consequence, formation of vapor plugs in the brake system’s
hydraulic drive occur at a temperature of 20–25°С below fluid boiling temperature. This fact is taken into
consideration in determining the brake fluid quality indicators [Bukharin, Prozorov and Shchukin (1965), Gurevich
and Melamud (1978), Ilarionov et al. (1966), Kruze et al. (1947)].
According to international standards, the boiling temperature of "dry" and "humidified" braking fluid must be,
respectively, no less than 205 and 140°С for vehicles in their normal operating conditions; and no less than 230 and
155°С for vehicles operated at high speeds or with intense braking. It is also known that on a parked vehicle, after
intensive braking mode, the fluid temperature may rise for some time due to intense heat emission of the brake pads
when they are not cooled by incoming airflow.
In order to evaluate the impact of braking fluid boiling temperature (T) on the braking system’s total response time
(tr), a method has been developed for experimental investigations that takes into consideration the above mentioned
standards and circumstances. The objects of investigation were category M1 motor vehicles having the technically
maximum permissible weight of no more than 3.5 tons. Based on these vehicles, tests were carried out on the efficiency
of the braking system response on braking testing bench of the MAHA IW2 Eurosystem the instrumental control and
518 Nickolay Podoprigora et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 516 – 522

diagnostics station operating in compliance with a specifically developed algorithm (Fig. 1) [Glazkov and Evtyukov
(2011)]. The braking fluid boiling temperature was determined by the ADD502 refractometer.

Fig. 1. Structural approach to conducting experimental investigations.

Results for Ford Focus vehicle are presented in Table 1.

 Nickolay Podoprigora et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 516 – 522 519

Table 1. Results of Ford Focus measurements.

Parameter value at mileage (thousand km):
Parameters being measured
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Boiling temperature,̊ С 230 188 171 167 159 155 147
Braking system response time, s 0.31 0.37 0.39 0.4 0.47 0.56 0.58

Based on the obtained experimental data, characteristic curves have been made for parameters being measured in
relation to vehicle’s actual mileage (Fig. 2, 3)

Fig. 2. Dependence of braking fluid boiling temperature on vehicle’s mileage.

Fig. 3. Dependence of braking system response time on braking fluid boiling temperature.

Based on results of mathematical treatment of the obtained characteristic curves, regression equations have been
deduced (Table 2) with approximation within the limits R=0.90÷0.92. The equations describe splines due to which it
520 Nickolay Podoprigora et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 516 – 522

is possible to obtain a single value for any of the studied parameters at the set mileage. The obtained characteristic
curves were tested by the Fischer conversion method, which showed their satisfactory fidelity (F=11.69>fg=6.94).

Table 2. Ford Focus motor vehicles’ parameter regression equations (Т and tr).
No. Measurement parameters Fig Regression equation, y=f(x)* Approximation fidelity, R2
2
1 Braking fluid boiling temperature (T) 2 y = x - 0.0931х+2.6029 0.9012
2 Braking system response time (tr.) 3 y = –0.0112x2-х + 2.4457 0.9265

The practical importance of the proposed equations is in the possibility of their use for determining parameter in a
situation in which a complete investigation or an inspection of a motor vehicle at the instrumental examination and
diagnostics station is impossible because of the damages obtained in the traffic accident. The designed value of the
brake fluid boiling temperature should be taken as normative (ynor) for the motor vehicle under study. If the technical
condition of the vehicle allows studying of the brake fluid condition, then it is necessary to compare the actual result
obtained (yfac) with the accepted norm (standard FMVSS No116 “Motor vehicles’ braking fluids”) and draw a
conclusion concerning the braking system’s condition: if yfac ≥ ynor then the parameter being measured cannot affect
the increase of the brake response time and the correcting coefficient is taken for 1, but if yfac < ynor, then the parameter
being measured increases the brake response time and the efficiency reduction coefficient K4 is calculated using the
dependency:

ynori
K4 (8)
yfaci
Thus, based on the experimental investigations, a suggestion was made to introduce, into the method of calculating
the braking system response time, a new correction factor K4, that specifies both the growth of the slowdown time t3
to maximum and the braking time with an established slowdown t4.
In this case, the designed dependencies for calculating the braking parameters in traffic accident investigations
make it possible to determine Sо, Va, Db taking into account the impact of operational factors assume the following
form [Lakeyev, et al. (2011), Stepina (2010),Podoprigora and Stepina (2012),Podoprigora et al. (2014/2015)]:
– stopping distance of motor vehicles fitted with ABS, m:

(t1  t2  0,375˜ K1 ˜ K4 ^tnom  t2  t р `)Va 

Va2
So .
1,5 ˜ M ˜ g (1)
– stopping distance of motor vehicles not fitted with ABS, m:
Va t2 ˜ Va Va2
Sо (t1  0,5 ˜ t3 ˜ K1 ˜ K2 ˜ K4 )   .
3,6 3,6 26 ˜ J N ˜\ 1 ˜\ 2 ˜\ 3 (2)
at φg>a:

Va2 ˜ M n
Sо (t1  t2  0,5 ˜ K1 ˜ K2 ˜ K4 ^tnom  t2  tr `)Va  ,
2a ˜ M s
(3)
at φg<a:

* where x is vehicle mileage, y is controlled parameter

 Nickolay Podoprigora et al. / Transportation Research Procedia 20 (2017) 516 – 522 521

(4)
(t1  t2  0,5 ˜ K1 ˜ K2 ˜ K4 ^tnom  t2  t р `)Va  a .
V2
Sо
2 ˜M ˜ g
– vehicle speed before slowdown, taking into consideration skidding, km/h:

Va 1,8 ˜ J n ˜\1 ˜\ 2 ˜\ 3 ˜ t3 ˜ K1 ˜ K2 ˜ K4  26 ˜ J n ˜\1 ˜\ 2 ˜\ 3 ˜ S yu . (5)

– required distance between the forward and rear vehicle at the moment the one in front brakes to avoid collision, m:
V2 2  V12
Db t1  t2  0.5 ˜ t3 ˜ K1 ˜ K2 ˜ K4  
V2
. (6)
3.6 26 ˜ J n ˜\1 ˜\ 2 ˜\ 3
where: Ψ1,Ψ2,Ψ3 are slowdown coefficients taking into account the vehicle model, road and traffic conditions, and
the vehicle load; Mn is actual weight of the vehicle at the moment of road accident; Ms – is the weight of equipped
vehicle; tnom is the maximum permissible braking mechanism response time established by regulations; tr is the time
of deceleration (before technical regulations come into force tr=0,5с); φ is coefficient of the wheels’ cohesion with
road; a is a maximum permissible value of braking acceleration; K1 is a coefficient that corrects the increasing
deceleration t3 to maximum; K2, K4 are coefficients that correct both t3, and the braking time with established
deceleration t4; K3 is a coefficient that corrects t4, where t4 is the braking time with established deceleration, c:

Va  1,8 ˜ J n ˜ t3
t4 K 2 ˜ K3 ˜ K 4 ˜ (7)
3,6 ˜ J n

3. Conclusion

The proposed optimized methods can be an efficient tool for improving the quality of an expert’s work in
investigating traffic accidents involving motor vehicles gross weight up to 3.5 tons and fitted with hydraulically driven
disk brakes. Its practical significance is in increasing the correctness of an expert’s evaluation of the driver’s actions
in prevention of traffic accident considering technical capability of the vehicle.

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