4.

Brakes
Besufekad G. (MSc.)
Mechanical Engineering Department
EiT-M, Mekelle University

December 1, 2012
 Introduction
• A brake decelerates a system by transferring
power from it. A clutch such as that illustrated
accelerates a system by transferring power to it.
• The two devices in rotary applications are thus
very similar as they both transmit torque whilst
supporting a varying speed difference across
them.

2
Brake Design
 common embodiements
• Disc brake A hydraulically activated
disc brake comprises
two opposing pistons
each faced with a pad of
lining material

The two normal forces

cancel one another
axially but cause additive
tangential friction forces
which oppose the disc's
motion and decelerate it

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Brake Design
 common embodiements…..
• Band brake
The actuation force
P is applied to the
band's extremities
through an actuation
linkage

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Brake Design
 common embodiements….
• External rigid shoe brakes

External because they lie outside the rotating drum

An actuation linkage distributes the actuation force to the posts
thereby causing them both to rotate towards the drum - the linings
thus contract around the drum and develop a friction braking torque.
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Brake Design
 common embodiements…..
• Internal rigid shoe brakes

The two hydraulically actuated rigid shoe brakes here are located
internal to the drum.
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Brake Design
 Design Procedure
Brake design investigations generally proceed along the
following lines:

The braked system is first examined to find out the required brake
capacity that is the torque and average power developed over the
braking period.

The brake is then either selected from a commercially available range

or designed from scratch. In the latter case, conservative rather than
optimum brake sizing may be based upon power densities which
experience has shown to be acceptable, thus avoiding the difficulties
associated with heat transfer appraisal.

Analysis of the actuating mechanism is necessary to disclose the

actuation requirements, brake sensitivity, bearing loads and the like.

The life of the brake lining would also be specified or estimated by the designer.
7
Brake Design
 System dynamics
The braked system must be analysed with
the initial knowledge:-
The system's total energy (comprising eg. kinetic,
gravitational and elastic potential) initially, i.e.
before braking
The system's final total energy i.e. after braking
The initial and final velocities of the brake drum
The desired braking period ∆t, or alternatively the
corresponding rotation of the drum ∆θ

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Brake Design
 System dynamics
wo Drum speed, w

wm

0 ∆t
Time, t

• Deceleration = o = ω 0
ω 2

2∆θ ∆t Mean angular

velocity
ωo ∆θ
ωm = =
2 ∆t

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Brake Design
 Application of the work/energy principle

- Work done by the brake (U) = ∆E = T ∆θ

- The mean rate of power transformation by the

brake over the braking period
Pm = T ωm =
U
∆t

These equations are the basis for the selection or the

design of the necessary brake.

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Brake Design
 Lining material
• Factors to be considered include:
friction coefficient,
fade resistance,
wear resistance,
ease of attachment,
rigidity/formability,
cost,
abrasive tendencies on drum, etc…
Linings normally are made from asbestos fibers bound in an organic matrix.
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Brake Design
 Lining material……
The characteristics of Ferodo AM 2, a
typical moulded asbestos

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Brake Design
 Determining the leading dimensions of lining material

• The concept of power density ……

Amount of power that can be dissipated by the break, converting
the Mechanical torque to heat power over a certain area of the
lining.

The value need to be less than the safe maximum

power density Rp

Pm  Pm 
≤ 
A  A  critical
(
= R p kw 2
m
)
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Brake Design
 Maximum power density Rp(Kw/m2)
Plate brakes
Cone
Spot disc Drum &
Type of duty Cooling conditions Typical applications clutche
brakes brakes clutche
s
s
Intermittent Time between applications Emergency and safety 6000 1800 800 600
duty or permits assembly to cool brakes, safety and
to ambient prior to torque-limiting
infrequent actuation. clutches.
full duty
applicatio
ns
Normal Some cooling between All general duty 2400 600 400 240
intermitte applications, but applications -
temperature builds up to winding engines,
nt a moderate level over a cranes, winches
period of time. and lifts.

Heavy frequent Frequency of applications too Presses, drop stamps, 1200 300 240 120
duty high to permit excavators and
appreciable cooling haulage gear.
where life between applications.
is critical.

Typical lining pressure range (kPa)

350-1750 70-700 70-350 70-350

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Brake Design
 Alternative brake rating…
An alternative brake rating procedure is based upon
the product of average pressure, pm, over the lining
contact area and the mean rubbing speed, vm, during
deceleration.

 Fnormal   Ftan gential  Pm R p

p m vm =  v m =  vm = =
 A   µA  µA µ

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Brake Design
 Estimating the lining dimension
• This procedure is done if you are not selecting and
buying a standard brake lining material!
The necessary lining area A can be estimated from power density
concept.
A drum diameter- to- lining width ratio somewhere between 3:1
and 10:1, and an angular extent of 100o for each of the two shoes
is calculated then.
The lining is always the sacrificial. Therefore the thickness of the lining
material is dictated from the volume of material lost.
This in turn is the product of the total energy dissipated by the lining
throughout its life, and the specific wear rate Rw (volume sacrificed per
unit energy dissipated) which is a material property and strongly
temperature dependent
  lining tempreture oC  n 
  
  To   Where Rwo ,To and n are constant
  
Rw = Rwo * e  material properties.
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Brake Design
 Example
• This example demonstrates use of the foregoing, however in
practice wear rate is difficult to assess since a thermal
analysis is needed to predict the lining temperature.
Select salient dimensions for a drum brake whose lining
temperature is estimated to be 200oC. The lining wear
constants are Rwo = 8.0 mm3/MJ ; To = 185 ; n = 1.78.
At normal intermittent duty :-

Energy dissipated: 7.5 kJ /application (which includes a design factor)

Average speed: 240 rpm (during braking)
Braking time: 0.25 s / application
Required lining life: 1.6 E6 applications

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Brake Design
 Home Assignment…
A motor whose inertia is 0.3 kg.m2
drives the rope drum of a hoist
through a 5:1 gear reduction. The
average diameter, radial thickness
and face width of the larger gear's rim
are 360, 16 and 50 mm. The mass of
the rope drum is 120 kg, its radius of
gyration is 110 mm, and it is equipped
with grooves of 250 mm pitch
diameter, on which is wrapped the
hoisting rope whose mass is 0.5 kg/m.
The maximum extended length of the
rope is 60 m.
A brake is incorporated into the motor
shaft. Determine the brake torque
and average power over the braking
period when stopping within 1 m, a
load of 1 t (1 tonne) being lowered at
3 m/s.

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Brake Design
 Shoe Brake Analysis
• Before examining a practical twin-shoe brake it is preferable
to understand the behaviour of a single shoe.

Brake Design
• The illustration below explains this contact in more
detail. An element dA of the lining is shown with the
braked body moving past at velocity ‘v’. The
elemental friction component dFf = µp.dA is
coplanar with dA and in the sense of ‘v’

Brake Design
• Shoes are classed as being either short or long.
• A short shoe is one whose lining dimension in the
direction of motion is so small that contact pressure
variation is negligible, ie. the pressure is everywhere
uniform, say at pm.
• The contact resultant therefore consists of the normal
reaction
N = Σ dN = Σ p dA --> ∫ p dA = pm ∫dA = pm A
together with the friction force Σ µdN = µ.pmA.

Brake Design
• In a long shoe the variation of contact pressure
in the direction of motion is not uniform.
i.e. integrals of the above form ( ∫ pdA ) cannot
be evaluated unless the p-variation is known.

Brake Design
 Design Procedure
For defined shoe geometry and the coefficient of
friction µ between lining and braked body known,
we can follow the following steps.
1) Find the resultant of the lining/braked-body
contact for a given actuation.
2) Determination of the braking effect, shoe
performance parameters, and hinge & shaft
reactions.

Brake Design
 Short translational shoe
• Consider the following geometry of a short
translational shoe
The uniform pressure over
the contact area A is pm
FBDs of Shoe

It is the reaction to the

illustrated friction
force μN which breaks
the translating body.
Brake Design
• The three contacts which each free body makes with
its surrounds are :
the actuation force P
the braked body characterised by the normal
reaction N = pmA (see previous section),
together with the friction force µN in the sense
of the braked body's motion, and
the hinge support reaction RH .
 The normal reaction and friction force are correlated
with a given actuation via the equation for moment
equilibrium about the hinge.

Brake Design
• The equation is
M The sign depending upon
N = pm . A =
(a ± µ h )
whether the shoe trails or
leads

Brake Design
 Long translational shoe
• Consider the following long translational trailing shoe
• For a given actuation, the deflection at any point along the
lining is approximately proportional to the point's distance x
from the hinge, with the maximum deflection occuring at the
end of the lining furthest from the hinge.

Take: Constant lining width (w)

Lining length extends from xmin to xmax

Brake Design
• The lining pressure is p on the typical element of
length dx located at x from the hinge,
so the normal force on the element is dN = p.dA = p w dx

µ p w dx
while the corresponding friction force will be
Moment equilibrium of the assembly of elemental short
shoes about the hinge

M − ∑ dN . x − ∑ µ d N . h =0 OR substituting for dN

M = w ∫ p ( x + µ h ) dx

Brake Design
• The above- noted proportionality between pressure p and
distance x is formalised as p = pmax ( x / xmax )
• Inserting this into the equilibrium equation and integrating
between the lining limits xmin and xmax leads to:
 M x max 
 
p max =  w 
(
 x max
3
− x min
3
) + µh
( 2
x max 2
)
− x min 
 
 3 2 

  x 
Total Braking Effect = T = ∑ µ p w dx = ∫ µ  pmax   w dx
  xmax 
2
xmax − xmin
2
= µ w pmax or substituting pmax from (iv )
2 . xmax
M
=
 (3
2 xmax − xmin
3
 )
 h + 3µ x 2 − x 2 
( ( ))
Brake Design  max min 
 Short rotational shoe
• Consider the external, trailing short shoe sketched at below

• r-the drum of radius

• Drum centre is at O which forms
the origin of a Cartesian system
whose x-axis passes through the
shoe hinge H distant a from O.
• The y-axis is directed generally
towards the short lining
• The lining is located at angle θm from the x-axis

This orientation of coordinate system will

be used throughout shoe brake design.
Brake Design
 FBD of shoe in Right side

Actuation moment M = Pe

For rotational equilibrium about the hinge to eliminate unwanted hinge reaction
M
N = pm A =
(a sin θ m − µ (r − a cos θ m ))
• This applies only to an external trailing shoe.

Brake Design
• Rather than derive other relations for internal and/or leading
shoes, we shall employ a "double delta" notation and re-
derive a general form of the above eq. which will describe all
possible configurations simply by inserting appropriate ±1
values for the deltas.
• The double delta notation utilizes

Upper case ∆ to designate shoe position
if a shoe is external then ∆ = +1; if the shoe is internal
then ∆ = -1.

Lower case δ to designate shoe sense
if a shoe is trailing then δ = +1; if the shoe is leading then
δ = -1.

Brake Design
• Next the drum's net effect on the shoe sketch is replaced
by the equivalent effect in Cartesian components at the
drum center.

Fx = ∆N cos θm - δµN sin θm ;

Fy = ∆N sin θm + δµN cos θm ;
T = µNr OR
Where
pm is the uniform pressure over the short lining whose contact area is A. The
Brake Design
reaction to the torque T is the braking effect exerted by the shoe on the drum.
• Taking moments about the hinge for the free body
∆M = a F y − δT = N [a (δµ cos θ m + ∆ sin θ m ) − δµ r ]
and solving for N
M
N =
[a sin θ m − δ∆µ (r − a cos θ m )]
• This is the general equation for. i.e. Leading, Trailing, Internal
and External short shoe. OR
M
N = a 1a
[µ r (m − δ∆n )] where n = 1 − cos θ m
r
m=
µr
sin θ m

• m and n are constant dimensionless characteristics of the shoe

Brake Design
 Shoe figures of merit (Performance)
• The performance of a single shoe or a complete brake is
described by either of two dimensionless figures of merit
The mechanical advantage (or "brake factor"), η
output Breaking Effect
η = =
Input Corresponding Actuation Necessary
• The sensitivity, S, reflects the proportional variation of
braking torque with fixed actuation as the friction coefficient
varies, thus S = µ .  ∂ T  =
µ
.
dη
T  ∂µ  M
η dµ

For single shoe η = T = 1

and S = m .η
M (m − δ∆ n)
S and η plotted below for representative short shoes of typical
proportions.
Brake Design
 Plots of η and S Vs. coefficient of friction

• It is recommended from experience that shoes should be

designed with a maximum sensitivity of 2 under heavy
duty conditions, or 2.5 for moderate duty.
Brake Design
 Long rigid shoe
• Consider the following long rigid shoe
• The lining of constant width w normal to the sketch plane
extends between θ1 and θ2
• The lining illustrated is impractical
in extending from 0o to 180o
• A sinusoidal pressure variation is a
reasonable postulate for practical linings
which are not wholly elastic, thus:
p = p max Sinθ ; θ1 ≤ θ ≤ θ 2
p dθ
2
p max I s
pm = ∫ = pmax is the pressure at θ = π/2
θ − θ1 θ 2 − θ1
1 2

Brake Design
Brake Design
• A long shoe is analyzed by dividing it up conceptually
into infinitesimal elements.
• Consider element of lining dθ at θ in the sketch. The
element's contribution to the contact resultant at the
shaft center O is
• The element's contribution to the
contact resultant at the shaft centre O is

dFx = ∆.dN cosθ - δ.µ.dN sinθ ;

dFy = ∆.dN sinθ + δ.µ.dN cosθ
;
dT = µ.dN r

Brake Design
Brake Design
 Integration Equations
2
I s = ∫ Sinθ .dθ = Cosθ 1 − Cosθ 2
1
2
I ss = ∫ Sin 2θ .dθ =
(2θ 2 − 2θ1 − Sin2θ 2 + Sin2θ1 )
4
1

(
I sc = ∫ Sinθ . Cosθ .dθ = Cosθ1 − Cosθ 2
2
)
4
1
2
I c = ∫ Cosθ .dθ = Sinθ 2 − Sinθ1
1
2
I cc = ∫ Cos 2θ . dθ =
(2θ 2 − 2θ1 + Sin 2θ 2 − Sinθ1 )
4
1

Brake Design
 M
No =
[µ.r I s (m − δ∆ n )]
In which
1 a I ss a I sc are constant dimensionless
m= . . and n = 1 − .
µ r Is r Is characteristics of the shoe

Brake Design
• The general trends of mechanical advantage and sensitivity
for the two cases are thus very similar, as may be seen by
comparing the graphs here for typical long shoes with the
corresponding graphs for short shoes.

Brake Design
 Twin shoe brakes
• The brake torque of the complete brake To is the sum of the
torque contributions of the two shoes. The shoes are
operated by a single brake actuation source Po which may
be a force in a brake rod or an hydraulic pressure for
example.

• Since the two shoes usually behave differently - one leading

while the other trails - the actuating linkage is arranged to
have different transformation ratios between the source and
the shoes so that the linings' peak pressures and lives are not
too different. Expressing this mathematically;
Brake Design
 M = λP ;
1 1 o M = λP
2 2 o

• where λ1 and λ2 are geometric actuation constants

which reflect the actuation linkage's mechanical
advantages.
• The dimensions of λ will be [length3] if Po is an
hydraulic pressure, or [length] if Po is a force.
• For geometrically similar shoes, the shoe with the
largest λη product will be subjected to the greatest
lining pressure and will contribute most to the total
braking torque To. The contributions of the two shoes to
the mechanical advantage ηo and sensitivity So of the
brake as a whole may be expressed as
Brake Design
 η = T /P = Σ λη ;
o o o S = Σ ληS/η
o o

which lie somewhere between the values for the

individual shoes.

Brake Design