History of Brakes:

              The modern automobile drum brake was first used in a car made by Maybach in
1900, although the principle was only later patented in 1902 by Louis Renault. He used
woven asbestos lining for the drum brake lining, as no alternative dissipated heat like the
asbestos lining, though Maybach had used a less sophisticated drum brake. In the first drum
brakes, levers and rods or cables operated the shoes mechanically. From the mid-1930s, oil
pressure in a small wheel cylinder and pistons (as in the picture) operated the brakes, though
some vehicles continued with purely mechanical systems for decades. Some designs have
two wheel cylinders. 
As the shoes in drum brakes wear, brakes required regular manual adjustment until the
introduction of self-adjusting drum brakes in the 1950s. Drums are prone to brake fading with
repeated use. 
In 1953, Jaguar fielded three cars equipped with disc brakes at Le Mans, where they won, in
large part due to their superior braking over drum-equipped rivals. This spelled the
[2]

beginning of the crossover of drum brakes to disc brakes in passenger cars. From the 1960s to
the 1980s, disc brakes gradually replaced drum brakes on the front wheels of cars. Now
practically all cars use disc brakes on the front wheels, and many use disc brakes on all four
wheels. 
In the United States, the Jeep CJ-5 (manufactured by AM General) was the final automobile
(produced for the United States Postal Service) to use front drum brakes when it was phased
out in 1984. However, drum brakes are still often used for handbrakes, as it has proven very
difficult to design a disc brake suitable for holding a parked car. Moreover, it is very easy to
[

fit a drum handbrake inside a disc brake so that one unit serves as both service brake and
handbrake. 
Early brake shoes contained asbestos. When working on brake systems of older cars, care
must be taken not to inhale any dust present in the brake assembly. The United States Federal
Government began to regulate asbestos production, and brake manufacturers had to switch to
non-asbestos linings. Owners initially complained of poor braking with the replacements;
however, technology eventually advanced to compensate. A majority of daily-driven older
vehicles have been fitted with asbestos-free linings. Many other countries also limit the use of
asbestos in brakes. 
 
 
 
 
 
1.3 Brake system evolution:
 
                                               In the 1800's, the first mechanisms to slow a vehicles
momentum and prevent motion were tested. Today, over 100 years later, the braking system
has evolved into a complex device designed to adapt to different road conditions. From the
early drum brakes to modern day discs, brake system evolution has improved safety and
reduced the risk of car crashes.
With so many forms of   brakes that have existed over the century, it is hard to pinpoint the
inventor of the original brake system; however, those who designed these systems had a
common goal, to make it possible for humans to control a motor vehicle. With the goal of
creating safer conditions, innovators over the years have brought new technologies to the
braking system, improving upon this original idea.
Brake system evolution began in the 19  century, and continues today. The types of braking
th

systems that have been used over the years include:

1. Wooden block brakes
2. Mechanical drum brakes
3. Expanding internal shoe brakes
4. Hydraulic brakes Hydraulic brakes
5. Disc brakes
6. Anti-lock brakes
1.  Wooden block brakes:
The earliest brake system consisted of nothing more than a simple lever that moved a block
of wood against the wheels. This method was effective on steel-rimmed wheels, which was
used in horse-drawn and steam-powered vehicles. This brake could put to a stop a

vehicle 
                                                 Fig 1.3.1 Wooden block brake
that was running on speeds of 10-20 mph in sparse traffic. But when the Michelin brothers
introduced rubber tires by the late 1890s, the steel-rimmed wheels became obsolete, as well
as the wooden block brakes. It became useless because the wood grounded the rubber down. 
  
2. Mechanical drum brakes:
Considered as the foundation of the modern braking system, the mechanical drum brake was
developed in 1902 by Louis Renault, a French manufacturer and a pioneer in the automobile
industry. However, the first, or among the first, to think that a cable-wrapped drum anchored
to the vehicles’ chassis could be used to stop momentum was Gottlieb Daimler. He created
this first concept of the drum brake in 1899. 
In 1901, Wilhelm Maybach designed the first Mercedes with a simple mechanical drum
brake, wherein steel cables were wrapped around the drums of the rear wheels and is operated
by a hand lever. But it was Louis Renault who was credited with inventing the drum brake
that has become the standard for cars.
Drum brakes work as brake shoes generate friction by rubbing against the inner surface of a
brake drum attached to a wheel. There are brakes contracting externally, in which the brake
band surrounds the drum; and there are also brakes expanding internally, in which the shoes

are forced outward against the drum.

                    Fig 1.3.2 Mechanical Drum Brake

3. Expanding internal shoe brakes:
Prior to the invention of the expanding internal shoe brake, all braking systems were installed
outside of the vehicle. This placed the shoes inside the drum brake so that dust, water, and
other elements would be kept out, making the braking process remain effective. This is a very
important innovation in the history of braking systems.

                                           
                             Fig 1.3.3  Expanding internal shoe brakes

4. Hydraulic brakes:
In 1918, Malcolm Lougheed (who later changed his name to Lockheed in 1926) proposed a
concept of a four-wheel brake system using hydraulics. Using cylinders and tubes, Lockheed
used fluids to transfer force to the brake shoe when a pedal was pressed. It required much less
effort for the driver to apply

brakes. 
The hydraulic brake system was first fitted into all four wheels of a Model A Duesenberg car 
 
                                            Fig 1.3.4 Hydraulic Braking System
in 1921. However, it was beset with fluid leakage problems, but engineers from the Maxwell
Motor Corporation produced rubber cup seals to help solve it. In 1923, the improved
Lougheed brakes were offered as an optional upgrade on the Maxwell-Chalmers car for $75.
This new brake design was also used in Chrysler cars from 1924 to 1962.
5. Disc brakes:
The disc brake was invented decades before it became popular. In 1898, Elmer Ambrose
Sperry designed an electric car with front-wheel disc brakes built by the Cleveland Machine
Screw Co. Disc brakes work like bicycle brakes, wherein a calliper with brake pads pinches a
disc or rotor. However, it was William Lanchester, an English engineer, who patented the
idea in 1902. The biggest downside to his invention though was the horrible screeching noise
it produced, which were caused by copper brake linings moving against a metal disc. After
five years, another British named Herbert Frood solved the noise problem by lining the pads
with long-lasting asbestos, which continued to be used in car brakes until the 1980s.
Still, disc brakes were not yet popular. It only began to be widely used in Europe during the
1950s when vehicles’ weight and speed capabilities were increasing, causing hydraulic
brakes to become less efficient in distributing heat. The disc brakes were first integrated in
the Chrysler Imperial since 1949 and 1953 and were first used with hydraulic functions.
 During the 1960s, many auto manufacturers worldwide started to replace drum brakes with
disc brakes. Some of the companies that were the first to do so in their countries were Italy’s
Lancia in 1960, Germany’s Mercedes-Benz in 1961, France’s Renault in 1962, Japan’s
Nissan in 1965 and Sweden’s Volvo in

1966. 
                                                       Fig 1.3.5 Disc Brakes
6. Anti-lock brakes:
The anti-lock (anti-skid) brake system, or the ABS, was created to help previous braking
systems to prevent the brakes from locking up while in use. It’s a safety feature that uses
speed sensors that detect when a lock is about to occur. It then ignites a system of hydraulic
valves to reduce the pressure of a brake on a single wheel, preventing the car from going into
a spin. This system changed the way brakes function and is useful in providing more control
for the driver.
Anti-lock brakes were first introduced by French engineer and aeronautical pioneer Gabriel
Voisin in 1929 for use in airplanes. It was improved by Bosch and Mercedes-Benz in 1936 by
making it an electronic brake system for the Mercedes.
In 1958, the Road Research Laboratory (RRL) and Dunlop developed a practical, mechanical
ABS for a car and tested it on Jaguar Mark VII fitted with disc brakes. It was only in 1966
when the ABS was fitted in a production car, the Jensen FF sports sedan, from Great Britain.
Meanwhile, in the US, Ford offered an anti-skid system as an option for the 1954 Lincoln
Continental Mark II. However, it was very expensive to produce, so it cost too much and was
soon withdrawn. In 1968, Ford introduced the “Sure-Track” analog anti-lock brake

system 
                                                  Fig 1.3.6 Anti-Lock Brakes
which operated only on rear wheels. This system used wheel sensors that transmitted data to a
transistorized computer set behind the glove box. Production costs were still too high, so it
was initially offered as an option for the Thunderbird until it became a standard
fit.                                         
Bosch and Mercedes updated their 1936 anti-lock brake system and installed it in the 1978
Mercedes S-Class. It was a completely electronic, four-wheel and multi-channel system,
which other companies soon built on most cars.
 
1.4 PRINCIPLE OF VEHICLE BRAKING:    
                        Braking of a vehicle depends upon the static function that acts between tyres
and road surface. Brakes work on the following principle to stop the vehicle: “The kinetic
energy due to motion of the vehicle is dissipated in the form of heat energy due to friction
between moving parts (wheel or wheel drum) and stationary parts of vehicle (brake shoes)”.
The heat energy so generate4d due to application of brakes is dissipated into air. Brakes
operate most effectively when they are applied in a manner so that wheels do not lock
completely but continue to roll without slipping on the surface of road. 
1.5 CLASSIFICATION OF BRAKES:
 On the Basis of Method of Actuation
(a) Foot brake (also called service brake) operated by foot pedal.
(b) Hand brake – it is also called parking brake operated by hand.
 On the Basis of Mode of Operation
(a) Mechanical brakes
(b) Hydraulic brakes
(c) Air brakes
(d) Vacuum brakes
(e) Electric brakes.
 On the Basis of Action on Front or Rear Wheels
(a) Front-wheel brakes
(b) Rear-wheel brakes.
 On the Basis of Method of Application of Braking Contact
     (a) Internally – expanding brakes
     (b) Externally – contracting brakes.
 
Since the Brake Drum made of traditional material fails due to higher
mechanical loads acting on it. In this project we made an attempt to replace
traditional materials with Aluminum Silicon Carbide and Magnesium alloy. The
total deformations, von-mises stress, strain were determined on these three
different materials. The stress analysis results helps us to improve component
life and durability when it made of Aluminum Silicon Carbide and Magnesium
alloy.