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Maintaining a sufficiently porous structure in a wet friction material can be crucial to maintaining heat transfer from the bulk of the friction material into the fluid. Because of the lubricant flow from spinning plates and the fact that one side of the friction material is blocked by a steel core, porosity in the friction material must be maintained. Deposits directly from the oil, or transferred from the reaction plate, can accumulate in the friction material and/or seal surface porosity. When glaze forms on the assembly surface, a loss in friction coefficient will result. In this study, the proper selection of raw ingredients used in a friction material and the associated surface processing used in manufacturing the assembly will be shown to result in a material which has excellent friction stability and energy capacity compared to other wet friction materials.

Separator plates are utilized in clutch or brake packs for transmissions in vehicles. These plates are internally or externally splined to be operatively connected to the rotatable and/or stationary members in a torsional coupling. When pressure is applied during an engagement, separator plates mate against friction assembly plates and generate torque. Improvements can be made in the separator plate processing and finishing which will improve friction characteristics. The friction coefficients which result when clutch or brake packs are brought into contact are influenced by factors such as type of lining material, type of oil, temperature, velocity, and loading. Traditionally, varying the composition of the friction material on an assembly plate was a means to obtain different friction coefficients and in turn torque capacity. Additionally, there are other factors such as the separator plate surface finish that may affect the friction characteristics.