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Developing a brake system with high overall customer satisfaction rating is a constant challenge for OEMs as well as their brake suppliers. Brake system performance is directly linked to the engagement between the rotors and pads. The materials for the rotors and pads play a key role in the nature of the engagement. Therefore, to meet the performance targets, it is critical to have a good understanding of the brake rotor materials and their impacts. Gray iron is the most widely used brake rotor material in the industry owing to its superior thermal handling capacity, damping characteristics, and wear and cost advantages. G30 per ASTM A48 is generally specified for most brake rotors with minimum tensile strength of 200 MPa and Brinell hardness of 187∼241. G20 is also widely used for brake rotors, especially for brake smoothness and optimal lining life.

Developing a quiet brake system has been a constant task for OEMs as well as their brake suppliers. As a major component in the brake system, the rotor plays a significant role in brake noise performance. Owning to the cost and damping property advantages, gray iron is still the most widely used material for brake rotor application. When pads/rotor coupling is examined to address noise issues, however, most efforts have been on pads and insulators. Rotor specifications are rather general and the component is typically accepted based on grades defined by mechanical property minimum (mostly in G3000 SAE J431). Nevertheless, we have found that gray iron within a grade can have wide microstructure variations, and the deviation (especially on the rotor friction surface) can critically affect the noise propensity in addition to friction output performance and wear characteristics. In this work, the impact of brake disc material on brake noise and output performance is investigated.