Original Article

Proc IMechE Part J:

J Engineering Tribology
Tribological and dynamical analysis of 0(0) 1–18
! IMechE 2019

a brake pad with multiple blocks for Article reuse guidelines:

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a high-speed train DOI: 10.1177/1350650119896456

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YK Wu, JL Mo, B Tang, JW Xu, B Huang, ZY Xiang and ZR Zhou

Abstract
In this research, the tribological and dynamical characteristics of a brake pad with multiple blocks are investigated using
experimental and numerical methods. A dynamometer with a multiblock brake pad configuration on a brake disc is
developed and a series of drag-type tests are conducted to study the brake squeal and wear behavior of a high-speed
train brake system. Finite element analysis is performed to derive physical explanations for the observed experimental
phenomena. The experimental and numerical results show that the rotational speed and braking force have important
influences on the brake squeal; the trends of the multiblock and single-block systems are different. In the multiblock
brake pad, the different blocks exhibit significantly different magnitudes of contact stresses and vibration accelerations.
The blocks located in the inner and outer rings have higher vibration acceleration amplitudes and stronger vibration
energies than the blocks located in the middle ring.

Keywords
Brake squeal, wear, tribology, dynamics, brake pad, high-speed train

Date received: 19 June 2019; accepted: 29 November 2019

brake squeal related to friction.10–19 Mechanisms were

Introduction
With the improvement of the quality of life, greater
comfort during travel has become an important factor
to evaluate the quality of a vehicle. Nowadays, brake
noise has become an increasing concern of passengers
in high-speed trains, especially brake squeal noise,
which usually falls in the frequency range between
1 kHz and 16 kHz.1,2 Therefore, the reduction or elim-
ination of the brake squeal noise of high-speed trains
has become a key problem that brake manufacturers
need to focus on. Brake squeal is a common problem
associated with vehicle brake systems.3–8 However, to
date, most studies on brake squeal have been con-
ducted in the automotive field and train-related
brake squeal has rarely been investigated.1,2,9 Sinou
et al.1 performed a study on the brake squeal of
high-speed trains; their results showed that it was pos-
sible to develop consistent and efficient finite element
(FE) models to simulate squeal in train à grande
vitesse (French: high-speed train (TGV)) brake sys-
tems. However, considering the high speed and com-
plex working conditions of high-speed trains during
the brake process, details regarding the generation
and evolution of brake squeal remain unknown.
In the last few decades, many scholars and enter-
prises have conducted numerous studies to investigate
determined to explain the occurrence of brake squeal,
such as stick-slip, negative friction-velocity slope, and
coupling mechanisms. Although these mechanisms
are helpful for understanding brake squeal, none of
them explain the details related to brake squeal, thus
the underlying mechanisms of brake squeal gener-
ation have not been determined.7,20
Generally, two methods are widely used to investi-
gate brake squeal, i.e. experimental tests8,21–27 and the
FE method.28–30 Many scholars have examined the
squeal noise of brake systems by combing both meth-
ods,31–40 considering that both experimental tests and
the FE method have their own merits and demerits.
It is worth noting that, when using experimental tests
and considering the large and complex structural prop-
erties of an actual disc brake system, many researchers
established simplified test setups of brake systems
to investigate brake squeal, such as beam-on-disc
Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering,
Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China
Corresponding author:
JL Mo, Tribology Research Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering,
Southwest Jiaotong University, North 1st section of Erhuan Road
No.111, Jinniu District, Chengdu 610031, China.
Email: jlmo@swjtu.cn
2 Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)
system,23,41 pad-on-disc system,24,25 and brake
dynamometer.21 These setups can adequately reflect
the real dynamical behavior of the brake systems but
reduce the complexity. Massi et al.41 performed a series
of experimental tests by using a beam-on-disc test
bench to investigate the influence of mass on the disc
on the brake squeal. Butlin and Woodhouse25
extracted the growth phase of the instabilities and
automatically assessed their quality in terms of
linearity and time-invariance by using a ‘‘pin-on-
disc’’ test bench. Kchaou et al.21 studied the squeal
characteristics of an automobile brake system in
sandy conditions and found that an increase in the
size of external particles resulted in a lower squeal
sound level of the squeal.
In our previous research, a simplified brake dyna-
mometer with one block as a brake pad was designed
and used to investigate the brake performance of a
high-speed train brake system.42 We found that the
generation and evolution of brake squeal were
strongly related to the braking parameters.
However, it is worth noting that in a real high-speed
train disc brake system, the pad commonly consists of
multiple friction blocks and braking occurs between
the rotating disc and the multiple blocks, thus the
previously designed dynamometer has limitations
with regard to reflecting the real train brake process.
Considering this, the design and manufacturing of a
dynamometer with multiple blocks sliding against the
brake disc are of significance for the investigation of
brake squeal of high-speed train brake systems,
because this configuration is able to effectively reflects
the real tribological and dynamical behavior of the
brake system during the braking process.
In this work, a customized brake dynamometer in
the form of a pad (multiblock)-on-disc is developed to
investigate the brake squeal generated by the brake
and pad friction interface. The characteristics of this
equipment allow for the study of the interfacial
friction of multiple friction blocks and brake discs.
A series of tests with different braking parameters
were performed using this equipment to study the
squealing noise of the brake system. A numerical
analysis including a complex eigenvalue analysis and
transient dynamics analysis were performed to clarify
the test results. Moreover, the tribological and
dynamical behaviors of different friction blocks of
the pad were examined to determine the differences
in the vibration and wear of the blocks. The
correlations between the vibration characteristics of
the brake systems and the wear characteristics the
blocks of the brake pad were also investigated.
Description of experimental tests
The brake dynamometer
A customized small-scale brake dynamometer was
developed to conduct a drag-type braking test.
The main purpose of this dynamometer was to exam-
ine the brake properties of a high-speed train brake
system; the schematic of the dynamometer is shown in
Figure 1. The main parts of the test bench are the
servomotor, brake disc, pad, pad fixture, push rod,
and cylinder. During the test, the servomotor drives
the brake disc, which rotates at a constant speed. The
cylinder provides a constant force to push the brake
pad to contact the brake disc. The test bench used in
this work is not accurate enough to reflect a real full-
size high-speed train brake system. However, con-
sidering that the brake properties are strongly related
to the contact interface between the disc and friction
block and the contact interface property significantly
affects the tribological and dynamical behavior,43 in
this work, these two important components are
included in the experimental model. This allows us
to determine the relationship between the friction
block structures and brake contact interfacial proper-
ties. In addition, the experimental test conditions can
be easily controlled and adjusted due to the simple
mechanical structure. The operating cycles of a real
train braking system change constantly according to
the operating conditions. Considering that mechan-
ical friction braking is usually conducted at a rela-
tively low velocity, the test bench was designed to
simulate disc rotation speeds of 0–30 km/h.
A 3D force sensor (sensitivity: 5 mV/N, measuring
range:  2000 N) is mounted behind the pad fixture to
measure the normal, tangential, and radial forces
during the friction process. A 3D accelerometer (sen-
sitivity: 10 mV/g, measuring range: 500 g) is attached
to the pad holder to measure the vibration acceler-
ation signals in three directions. A microphone (sen-
sitivity: 50 mV/Pa, dynamic response range:
15–146 dB, frequency response: 3.5 Hz to 20 kHz) is
placed about 10 cm from the contact interface to cap-
ture the sound signals. These signals are collected and
analyzed synchronously in real time by an 8-channel
signal acquisition and analysis system; the sampling
frequency is 50 kHz. A handheld thermal imager
(accuracy: 2  C) is used to monitor and track the
real-time thermal evolution of the disc surface.
Sample preparation and experimental parameters
Although there are many kinds of friction blocks with
different shapes (such as a triangle, hexagon, penta-
gon, and circle) and different configurations are used
for high-speed train brake pads, they all satisfy the
following requirements, i.e. the number of blocks
gradually increases in the radial direction, which
means that more blocks are located farther away
from the center of the disc. Therefore, a simplified
configuration of the pad is proposed, as shown in
Figure 2. The disc surface is simply depicted as
three concentric rings, i.e. the inner, middle and
outer rings and a different number of blocks is located
on each of the rings. In this work, one block is located
Wu et al.
Figure 1. Schematic of the brake dynamometer.
Figure 2. Schematic of the friction block configuration on the
brake disc.
on the inner ring, two blocks on the middle ring, and
three blocks on the outer ring. This custom-made pad
configuration meets the basic requirement of a train
brake pad design and reduces the complexity of the
test and calculations but still reflects the contact state
of the brake disc and pad of the train brake system to
a certain degree.44,45
In this study, a series of drag-type braking experi-
ments are conducted to investigate the tribological
and dynamical behaviors of the brake system. The
material of the brake disc sample is forged steel,
which is used for the real brake disc of high-speed
trains. The thickness, inner radius, and outer radius
of the disc sample are 16 mm, 32.5 mm, and 180 mm
respectively. The friction blocks samples are cut from
3
a real brake pad of the China Railway High-speed
(CRH) 380B train and are machined to a diameter
of 26 mm and a thickness of 17 mm. The chemical
compositions of the disc and block samples are
listed in Tables 1 and 2, respectively.
It is known that squeal noise is more likely to occur
at relatively lower speeds, especially when mechanical
braking is used to stop the train. This is the reason for
hearing brake squeal as the train enters the station.
Moreover, it is worth noting that the braking forces
and speeds are changing continuously during the
braking process of high-speed trains. Therefore, in
this work, a test force ranging from 400 N to 800 N
was selected to simulate the actual average contact
pressures ranging from 0.12 MPa to 0.24 MPa for
the train brake system. A test rotational speed ranging
from 50 r/min to 200 r/min was selected to simulate
the average sliding speeds of about 0.6–2.5 m/s
(actual train speed range of about 4–17 km/h), at
which brake squeal usually occurs.
The test time is 2 min. All tests are carried out in an
ambient environment (20–25  C and 60  10% RH).
Before testing, a running-in (wearing-in) procedure
between the disc sample and pad sample is conducted
at a constant rotation speed of 40 r/min and a con-
stant loading force of 300 N. The contact surfaces are
intermittently observed during the running-in proced-
ure until good surface-to-surface contact is achieved.
The contact area is defined as the regions of the pad
surface, which are rubbed by the disc surface, and on
which wear debris accumulation occurs and scratches
are observed. This running-in procedure was com-
pleted when the contact area exceeded 85%. Each
formal test is conducted more than three times to
obtain reliable experimental results with good repeat-
ability. After each test, there is at least a 1 h interval to
4 Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)
Table 1. Chemical composition of the disc sample.
Element Fe Si Mn
Content (wt%) Balance 0.25 0.75
Table 2. Chemical composition of the block sample.
Element Fe Cu Graphite
Content (wt%) 13–15 45–50 18–20
cool down the samples. The worn surface of the pad
sample is examined with an optical microscope, a pro-
filometer, and a white light interferometer after
the tests.
Dynamics analysis and discussion
Influence of the disc rotational speeds on the
dynamics of the brake system
To investigate the effect of the disc rotation speeds on
the brake squeal, a series of experimental tests of the
brake system are performed at different speeds. In
these tests, the braking force value is kept at a con-
stant value of 512 N. The equivalent sound pressure
level (ESPL) is calculated every 10 s, as shown in
Figure 3(a). It is found that when the disc rotation
speed increases from 50 r/min to 100 r/min, the ESPL
of the brake system shows a visible increase from
90 dB to 95 dB. As the disc rotation speed further
increases, the ESPL of the brake system starts to exhi-
bit a significant decreasing trend and reaches 82 dB at
speeds of 150 r/min and 200 r/min. This result indi-
cates that there is a critical disc rotation speed of
the brake system at which the highest sound pressure
is generated. Therefore, it can be deduced that squeal
noise with higher intensity is emitted when the disc
rotates within a certain speed range.
Furthermore, the noise signals in the time domain
are acquired during the steady stage of 110–120 s; the
results are shown in Figure 3(b). The noise signals of
the brake system exhibit periodic fluctuations with
larger amplitude when the disc speed is 50 r/min and
100 r/min and it is observed that the noise sig-
nal shows more frequent fluctuations at a disc speed
of 100 r/min than 50 r/min. This is in agreement with
the observation that the brake system generates
a higher sound pressure when the disc speed is
100 r/min. At disc speeds of 150 r/min and 200 r/min,
no visible signal fluctuations are observed, which indi-
cates that no squeal noise is generated by the brake
system.
Figure 4 illustrates the vibration acceleration sig-
nals of the brake system in the tangential and normal
directions at the stable stage (110–120 s) at the four
speeds. The vibration acceleration signals exhibit
C Ni Cr Mo
0.31 1.8 1.1 0.5
FeCr MoS2 SiC Others
6–8 4–6 2–4 3–5
larger amplitudes at disc speeds of 50 r/min and
100 r/min than at speeds of 150 r/min and 200 r/min.
Additionally, the root mean square (RMS) values of
the vibration acceleration in the stable stage are cal-
culated to estimate the vibration intensity of the
system. As shown in Figure 5, it is evident that the
RMS value of the brake system is the highest at
the rotation speed of 100 r/min, which indicates that
this brake system is extremely unstable at this speed.
A time–frequency analysis of the tangential vibra-
tion acceleration is conducted at different speeds to
illustrate the energy distribution and evolution of
the vibration characteristics, as shown in Figure 6.
In Figure 6(a), only a high-frequency (9033 Hz) com-
ponent with extremely high energy is observed at the
speed of 50 r/min. At 100 r/min, five clear frequency
components (2294 Hz, 4589 Hz, 6885 Hz, 9472 Hz,
11475 Hz) with relatively low energy are observed
(Figure 6(b)). On the contrary, no main frequency
signals are observed at the speeds of 150 r/min and
200 r/min. This indicates that the disc rotational
speed significantly changes the frequency distribution
of the system. Therefore, the disc rotation speed is a
key parameter affecting the friction-induced vibration
and noise during the braking process of the high-
speed train.
The above-mentioned observations suggest that the
disc rotational speed has a significant influence on the
squeal characteristics of the brake system when
the brake pad consists of multiple blocks; specifically,
the sound pressure first increases and then decreases
with the increase in the disc rotation speed. In our
previous work,42 it was found that a higher disc rota-
tion speed caused higher sound pressure when the
brake pad had only one block; this result was different
from the results obtained in this study with multiple
blocks.
Influence of the braking force on the dynamics
of the brake system
The results of the experiments show that when the
braking force is constant, the rotation speed has a
significant effect on the brake squeal. In this section,
we describe the effect of the braking force on the
brake squeal for a constant disc rotation speed of
Wu et al. 5

Figure 3. (a) ESPL and (b) time-domain curves of the sound pressure at different rotational speeds.

Figure 4. Vibration accelerations at different rotational speeds: (a) tangential and (b) normal.

Figure 5. RMS value of acceleration at different rotational speeds: (a) tangential and (b) normal.

200 r/min. The ESPL values for different braking respectively, whereas when the force increases to
forces are shown in Figure 7. It is found that when 620 N and 714 N, the ESPL of the brake system exhi-
the force is 434 N and 512 N, the brake system gener- bits a considerable increase to almost 92 dB and
ates a relative low ESPL of 81 dB and 82 dB, 96 dB. This result indicates that a larger braking
6 Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)

Figure 6. Time–frequency spectrum of tangential acceleration at different rotation speeds of: (a) 50 r/min, (b) 100 r/min,
(c) 150 r/min, (d) 200 r/min.

Figure 7. (a) ESPL and (b) time-domain curves of the sound pressure for different braking forces.

force will cause noise with higher intensity. are observed. In contrast, at 434 N and 512 N, no vis-
Figure 7(b) shows the time-domain signals of the ible fluctuations are observed in the noise signals.
noise. At a braking force of 620 N and 714 N, high- Therefore, a larger braking force causes noise with
frequency periodic fluctuations with large amplitude greater sound pressure in this study.
Wu et al.
Figure 8. Vibration accelerations for different braking forces: (a) tangential and (b) normal.
Figure 8 illustrates the vibration acceleration sig-
nals of the brake system in the tangential and normal
directions in the stable stage (110–120 s) for different
braking forces. Vibration acceleration signals with
larger amplitudes are observed when the braking
force is 620 N and 714 N. For the braking force of
434 N and 512 N, no periodic fluctuations are
observed and the signal amplitudes are very low.
Taking into account the results of the ESPL
(Figure 7), it can be deduced that a larger braking
force results in higher-level unstable vibration and a
higher squeal noise.
To further clarify the effect of the braking force on
the vibration power in the frequency domain, a power
spectral density (PSD) analysis is performed; the
results are shown in Figure 9. At a braking force of
434 N and 512 N, no main frequency is observed.
Only one main frequency (2441 Hz) occurs when the
braking force is 620 N. In contrast, at a braking force
of 714 N, the vibration frequency spectrum becomes
relatively complex and more harmonics (2294 Hz,
4638 Hz, 7031 Hz) with higher energy intensity are
excited. Therefore, with the increase in the braking
force, more frequency peaks are observed and more
friction-induced vibration and noise are generated.
This result is quite different from the results of our
previous study,42 in which a medium braking force
within a certain range resulted in the strongest
instability of the brake system. Therefore, the use of
a brake pad with multiple blocks that contact the
brake disc causes more complex frequencies when a
higher braking force is applied, as shown in this study.
Tribological analysis and discussion
It was reported that the braking parameters have a
large impact on the friction coefficient and the wear
morphology of the contact interface.46–48 In this sec-
tion, we provide the average friction coefficients of the
brake system under different experimental conditions;
the results are shown in Figure 10. As shown in
7
Figure 10(a), as the disc rotation speed increases,
the friction coefficient first increases and then
decreases. The average friction coefficient is highest
(0.63) at a disc rotation speed of 100 r/min. In
addition, when different braking forces are applied
at the same rotation speed, the average friction
coefficient is highest at a force of 714 N. Considering
the above-mentioned dynamical analysis results
(Figures 4 and 8), the results of the average friction
coefficients indicate that the larger the friction
coefficient, the higher the intensity of the vibration
and the greater the squeal noise are.
Figure 11 shows the thermal images of the disc
surface under different experimental conditions after
the tests. The rectangular area outlined in black
covers nearly the entire width of the circular ring
and the maximum, minimum, and average tempera-
ture values are listed below the thermal images. It is
evident that the disc rotation speed and the braking
force have significant effects on the generation and
location of the ‘‘thermal annulus’’ (i.e. the annular
region shown in red or white) of the disc surface.
Figure 11(a) shows that a single thermal annulus
gradually appears with an increase in the disc rotation
speed. Figure 11(b) shows that the braking force
affects the location of the thermal annulus on the
disc surface. The results indicate that the interfacial
contact status and the location of contact pressure on
the pad surface are affected by the braking force,
which, in turn, influences the friction and wear
behavior.
The wear analysis under a typical experimental
condition (714 N – 200 r/min) shows that relatively
strong brake noise is produced. Figure 12(a) shows
the wear surfaces of the six friction blocks. It can be
seen clearly that plenty of wear debris has accumu-
lated on the surfaces of Block 1, Block 4, Block 5, and
Block 6. Moreover, some visible scratches are on the
surfaces. This result suggests that the surfaces of
Blocks 1, 4, 5, and 6 suffer severe wear. The surface
profiles of the friction blocks were determined in the
8 Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)

Figure 9. PSD analysis of the tangential vibration acceleration for different braking forces.

Figure 10. Friction coefficients of the brake system at different rotation speeds (a) and for different braking forces (b).

direction perpendicular to the friction force and the
measuring positions are marked in red lines in
Figure 12(a). The profile curves and the roughness
(Ra) values are shown in Figure 12(b) and (c), respect-
ively. The Ra values of the surfaces of Blocks 1, 4, 5,
and 6 are larger than those of Blocks 2 and 3. This
indicates that the inner blocks and outer blocks of the
brake pad experience severe wear whereas the middle
blocks experience comparatively less wear.
Figure 13 shows the 3D microtopographies and the
wear profile curves of Block 1, Block 3, and Block 6
obtained with the white-light interferometer to illus-
trate the difference in the wear states of the blocks
located on the inner, middle, and outer rings. Visible
exfoliations and ploughings are observed on the wear
surfaces of Block 1 and Block 6. However, no plowing
is observed on the wear surface of Block 3. This sug-
gests that the surfaces of the blocks on the inner and
outer rings exhibit considerably more wear than the
surfaces of the blocks on the middle ring. The wear
profile curves of three areas validate these observations.
Numerical analysis and discussion
Finite element model of the test bench
To obtain a better understanding of the brake squeal
of the high-speed train brake system with multiple
blocks, a numerical analysis is performed by using
the FE software ABAQUS 6.14. A simplified FE
model is established, as shown in Figure 14(a). The
model consists of a disc sample, a brake pad with
multiple friction blocks, the fixture, a 3D-sensor,
and a push rod. The material parameters of the com-
ponents are listed in Table 3 and they are based on the
real material properties. For the contact pairs, the disc
is set as the main surface and the pad is set as the slave
surface; since the pad material is softer than that of
the disc, the mesh of the pad is finer than that of the
disc. The boundary conditions of this model are
shown in Figure 14(b). The four threaded holes of
the disc are coupled to the center point, which is
fixed in all directions, except for the x rotational dir-
ection. The push rod is free in the x-direction and a
Wu et al.
Figure 11. Thermal images of the disc surface at different rotational speeds of 50, 100, 150, and 200 r/min and a braking force of
512 N (a) and different braking forces of 434, 512, 620, and 714 N and a rotational speed of 200 r/min (b).
constant force is loaded on the right end surface of the
push rod in the x-direction.
To validate the accuracy of the simplified model, a
series of hammering tests are conducted in this study
and the test results are compared with the numerical
results calculated in ABAQUS. First, a hammering
test is carried out for the disc that is mounted on
the test bench; subsequently, the whole assembly
brake system is tested when the pad is in contact
with the disc under the force of 512 N. The results
of the hammer tests and numerical calculation are
shown in Figure 15, Table 4, and Table 5. The numer-
ical and experimental results are in good agreement
and the errors are less than 5%. Therefore, it is con-
cluded that the material properties and the boundary
conditions of the simplified model reflect the condi-
tions of the real test equipment.
Complex eigenvalues analysis
The experimental results have shown above that
under the operating conditions of 512 N–100 r/min
and 714 N–200 r/min, a significantly higher ESPL
was obtained, whereas the brake system was rela-
tively stable under the operating conditions of
9
512 N – 200 r/min. Therefore, these three operating
conditions (512 N–100 r/min, 512 N–200 r/min, and
714 N–200 r/min) are tested in the numerical study
to provide an in-depth understanding of the experi-
mental findings. In the following section, we describe
the complex eigenvalues analysis (CEA) and dynamics
transient analysis (DTA) under the three operating
conditions.
In recent years, CEA has become a common
method to investigate the squeal of brake systems.
The method predicts the complex eigenvalues and
the sign of the real part provides an indication of sta-
bility and the imaginary part defines the correspond-
ing frequency. It is a very effective method and allows
for determining all unstable frequencies in one run for
a set of operating conditions. The calculation of com-
plex eigenvalues in ABAQUS is divided into four
steps: (1) nonlinear static analysis for applying
brake-line pressure; (2) nonlinear static analysis to
impose the rotational speed on the disc; (3) normal
mode analysis to extract the natural frequency of the
undamped system; (4) CEA that incorporates the
effect of friction coupling.
Figure 16 shows the results of the CEA. The pur-
pose of the CEA analysis is to obtain a preliminary
10
Figure 12. (a) Wear morphology, (b) surface profile, and (c) surface roughness of the friction blocks.
prediction of the instability of the brake system. It is
found that for the different operating conditions, with
the increase in the friction coefficient (m), two separate
adjacent modes tend to converge to one value, which
indicates that the brake system generates unstable
vibration modes. In addition, the mode coupling
behavior is similar in Figure 16(a) and (b), thus it
can be deduced that the disc rotation speed has little
effect on the prediction of the squeal instability.
Figure 16(b) and (c) shows the variation in the
imaginary parts (frequency) of the complex eigen-
values for different braking forces. The system pro-
duces more coupling phenomena at a larger braking
force (714 N–200 r/min).
A comparison of the results with the fast Fourier
transform (FFT) results of the experimental tests
(Figures 6 and 9) shows that the unstable frequencies
calculated by the CEA are close to the measured main
frequencies of the squeal noise. However, it is worth
noting that not all the calculated unstable frequencies
were observed in the experiments, for example,
1297 Hz and 5901 Hz for the condition of 714 N–
200 r/min, thus the CEA analysis may result in over-
prediction. In addition, it should be noted that for the
Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)
512 N–200 r/min condition, the experimental result
does not exhibit significant unstable frequencies,
whereas the CEA results show four unstable frequen-
cies; this is caused by the lower friction coefficient in
the experiment.
As shown in Figure 10, the friction coefficients of
the brake system in the three operating conditions
are 0.63 (512 N–100 r/min), 0.41 (512 N–200 r/min),
and 0.53 (714 N–200 r/min), respectively. Therefore,
the mode coupling does not occur at a low friction
coefficient (0.41) for the operating condition of
512 N–200 r/min (Figure 16(b)), whereas for the
other two operating conditions, more than one
mode coupling event occurs at higher friction
coefficients (0.63 and 0.53) (Figure 16(a) and (c)).
This may be the reason why the vibration in the
512 N–200 r/min condition is weak and no squeal
noise is generated in the experiments, whereas the
vibrations under the conditions of 512 N–100 r/min
and 714 N–200 r/min are strong and squeal noise is
generated in the experiments.
Figure 17 shows the mode shape of the disc and
pad when coupling occurs under the conditions of
512 N–100 r/min. The results show that Block 4 and
Wu et al. 11

Figure 13. 3D microtopographies of the wear surfaces of: (a) Block 1, (b) Block 3, (c) Block 6, and (d) the two-dimensional profile of
the wear track.

Figure 14. The model (a) and the load and boundary conditions (b) of the simplified test bench.

Block 5 both involve model coupling at the frequency

of 2422 Hz. At the coupling frequency of 4498 Hz and
6610 Hz, the main friction block involved in coupling
is Block-5. For the case of 9916 Hz, Block 1, Block 2,
Block 3, and Block 6 involve model coupling. Thus,
the coupling form of the brake disc and pad with
multiple blocks is more complex than that with a
single block.
Dynamic transient analysis
The CAE is able to predict the system’s unstable
vibration and the main frequency of the friction
noise. However, it cannot predict the vibration accel-
eration, force, and other signals of the friction system
in the time domain. In theory, the DTA does not
require some of the important assumptions
12 Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)

underlying the CEA. In addition, the DTA method Figure 19 shows the DTA results of the brake
considers a large number of nonlinear factors in the system under the three operating conditions. Larger
friction system, simulates the motion of the friction amplitudes of the tangential and normal vibration sig-
system, and predicts the dynamic behavior and other nals are observed under the conditions of 512 N–
signals in the time domain.28,49–51 100 r/min and 714 N–200 r/min, whereas vibrations
ABAQUS/Explicit 6.14 is used to conduct DTA with lower amplitude are observed under the condi-
and simulation of the vibration acceleration and con- tion of 512 N–200 r/min. These results are consistent
tact stress behavior. The friction coefficient values with the experimental test results. Therefore, the DTA
obtained from the experimental results (Figure 10) results verify that the brake system generates higher
are used. The normal force and the rotational velocity squeal instability under the conditions of 512 N–100 r/
of the disc sample are applied gradually until the pre- min and 714 N–200 r/min.
scribed value is reached and are kept constant, as It has been reported that the contact stress and
shown in Figure 18(a). The time of each simulation its distribution have a large influence on the gener-
process is 1.2 s. Figure 18(b) shows the schematic view ation of friction-induced vibration and noise during
of the disc and the installation position of the blocks. the braking process.37,47 Figure 20 shows the con-
tact pressure of the pad surface under the three
operating conditions. It is observed that the contact
Table 3. The material parameters of the model. pressure is higher for Block 1, Block 4, and Block 6
under the three operating conditions, i.e. the contact
Density Young’s Poisson’s
pressure mainly occurs on the inner ring and outer
Parts (kg/m3) modulus (GPa) ratio
ring of the pad under all operating conditions. In
Disc 7800 210 0.3 addition, the contact pressures are much higher
Friction block 5000 6.5 0.28 under the conditions of 512 N–100 r/min and
3D force sensor 7700 200 0.29 714 N–200 r/min than under the condition of
Fixture 7800 206 0.3 512 N–200 r/min. Considering the fact that larger
Push rod 7800 206 0.3 concentrated stress generally causes larger vibration
and noise,47 it makes sense that the brake system

Figure 15. Numerical and experimental response of the brake disc without static contact load (a) and of the entire assembly under a
static load (b).
Wu et al. 13

Table 4. Comparison of the experimental and numerical frequencies of the brake disc without static contact load.

Mode 1 6 8 12 16 24 29

Testing values (Hz) 890 1610 2652 3963 5503 7217 9093
FEA values (Hz) 922 1659 2615 3903 5401 7294 8959
Error (%) 3.60 3.00 1.40 1.50 1.90 1.10 1.50
FEA: finite element analysis.

Table 5. Comparison of the experimental and numerical frequencies of the entire assembly under a static load.

Mode 1 9 10 16 22 25 38 47

Testing values (Hz) 890 1618 2667 3984 4794 5223 7250 9123
FEA values (Hz) 887 1701 2616 3772 4796 5166 7199 9442
Error (%) 0.3% þ5.1% 1.9% 5.3% þ0.04% 1.1% 0.7% þ3.5%
FEA: finite element analysis.

Figure 16. Mode coalescence of the brake system under the conditions of: (a) 512 N – 100 r/min, (b) 512 N – 200 r/min, and
(c) 714 N – 200 r/min.

under the condition of 512 N–100 r/min and In order to quantitatively evaluate the vibration
714 N–200 r/min exhibits relatively larger vibration characteristics of the blocks during braking, the
and noise than under the condition of RMS of the vibration acceleration at the center of
512 N–200 r/min. the friction blocks is calculated under the three
14 Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)

Figure 17. Mode shape of the disc and pad when coupling occurs under the conditions of 512 N – 100 r/min.

Figure 18. (a) Time history of the normal load and rotational velocity of the disc sample and (b) the schematic view of the
installation position of the blocks.

Figure 19. Simulation results of the vibration acceleration under different conditions in the time domain: (a) tangential and
(b) normal.
Wu et al. 15

Figure 20. The contact stress distribution of the pad surface at different times for different operating conditions.

conditions, as shown in Figure 21. It is found that simplified pad, it can be deduced that the vibration
Block 1, Block 4, and Block 6 exhibit strong vibration of the blocks located in the inner and outer ring is
regardless of the operating conditions. According to stronger than that of the middle ring. The vibration
the configuration of the friction blocks on the and stress analysis results are in agreement with the
16
Figure 21. RMS value of the tangential acceleration of the blocks for different conditions.
wear results, which indicated that the blocks in the
inner and outer rings experienced more wear than
the blocks in the middle ring (shown in Figure 12).
Conclusions
In this study, a dynamometer was designed with a
configuration of a brake pad with multiple blocks
on a brake disc and tribological and dynamics ana-
lyses were conducted of the high-speed train disc
brake system with a multiblock pad using experiments
and numerical simulations. The experimental and
numerical results lead to the following conclusions:
(a) The experimental results showed that the brake
conditions significantly affected the generation
and evolution of the brake squeal noise. The
sound pressure first increased and then decreased
as the disc rotation speed increased. A higher
pressure resulted in stronger noise and more com-
plex frequencies. The use of a multiblock pad pro-
vided different results than the use of a brake pad
with only one block.
(b) The numerical model developed in this study
was suitable for determining the influence of
different brake conditions on the brake squeal
and the numerical results were in good agree-
ment with the results obtained from the experi-
mental tests. The vibration acceleration and
contact pressure were higher in the inner and
outer ring of the pad, indicating that the blocks
in the inner and outer rings of the brake pad
experienced greater wear than the blocks in the
middle ring.
Proc IMechE Part J: J Engineering Tribology 0(0)
(c) The multiblock pad used in the brake system
shows exhibited different dynamic behaviors com-
pared to the single-block pad, and this study
mainly focused on the tribological and dynamical
behavior of the individual blocks in the multiblock
pad. Thus, the modification of the configuration of
the individual blocks in a multiblock pad repre-
sents a potential method to reduce brake squeal.
This study is basic research on the brake squeal of
high-speed trains. The proposed method and results
provide an understanding of the brake squeal noise of
high-speed trains. In the future, the effect of brake
pads with different block configurations on the
brake squeal of a high-speed train braking system
will be investigated. It is expected that certain block
configurations will be able to reduce the brake squeal
of high-speed train brake systems.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to thank Dr Dongwei Wang for
discussions.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial
support for the research, authorship, and/or publication
of this article: This project was supported by the National
Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51822508 and
51675448).
Wu et al.
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