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Brakes are an essential safety device in a vehicle; however, there are few barriers to manufacture, import, or sell friction materials in most of the countries, including the USA. European countries, with the ECE R90 program, are a big exception. The International Transport Forum published in 2017 the “Benchmarking of road safety in Latin America” report [2], where it mentions that worldwide 17.5 people in every 100,000 die in road accidents. It is considerably higher in Andean countries and South America. In Andean countries (Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Venezuela) the mortality rate is 23.4. In all South American countries, the average rate is 21.0. Our study focuses on Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico because they are the most populated countries in Latin America and where more vehicles are sold, 3.5 Million in 2019 according to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) [7].

It is well known the difference between development levels and engineering investment applied to passenger car brake pads when compared to Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and items sold in the Independent Aftermarket (IAM). Based on these differences, the objective of this paper is to propose a simple evaluation for the IAM that can provide at least some level of the understanding of frictional material behavior. Based on a tripod of variables, or three Dimensions Development, described in this work as Performance, Comfort (NVH) and Durability; and using internationally and established testing procedures to measure these dimensions in order to meet the IAM demands for the cost-benefit engineering investment. An important part of the proposed tool is to position friction material against competition for market known issues, and, more importantly, to ensure end product safety and reliability.

New rules in the states of California and Washington mandate the phase out of cadmium, copper, hexavalent chromium, lead, mercury, and asbestiform starting in 2014. These rules apply to most on-road vehicles with open brakes. The rules are similar in its end-goals (to minimize the environmental impact of heavy metals and asbestiform fibers on runoff waters and on air pollution). They are however different in key aspects regarding the timing, limits, and process to register the corresponding percent-by-weight of all formulations sold and installed in these particularstates. After a short background, the paper presents three key areas pertaining to the rules and its practical implications for the self-certification (declaration of conformity) process.

It is well-known that much more feasible and robust development tests are required within the Automobile Industry in order to develop new projects within the timing demands and competitive pressures of the industry. Giving the increase of the so called Global Development Projects, it is necessary to have tests which can represent vehicle usage in several types of environments, weather and usage conditions. In some of vehicle systems, such as braking systems, tests need to be accomplished in different parts of the world due to several response influence factors, such: drive conditions, temperature and humidity. The objective of this paper is to present an important research about brake development, focusing on friction material life time (wear) and brake noise (NVH) responses.