| Abstract: | A brake pad material used in a popular, commercially available vehicle that consisted of steel wool, iron powder, graphite, coke, styrene–butadiene rubber, MgO, BaSO4, and phenolic resin was tested with the friction assessment and screening test. The average friction coefficient (0.357) and total wear (19.75 wt %) were measured. An alternative friction material formulated with identical constituents but optimized with the golden section principle and relational grade analysis was produced in a laboratory environment. This material exhibited an average friction coefficient of 0.419 and a low total wear of 6.25 wt %. An analysis of component costs indicated that the large volume price of the commercial material, $1.01/kg, was less than that of the laboratory material, $1.21/kg. However, the performance/cost ratio of the new material was appreciably greater. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 2498–2504, 2002 |
