[Writer's Name]

[Supervisor's Name]

[Subject]

[Date]

Automotive Disc Brakes

Introduction

The disc brake is the name given to a wheel brake which is used to slow down the rotational speed of the wheel by causing friction. This friction is produced by compressing brake pads against a brake disc that is combined with a set of calipers. The brake disc which is also termed as rotor is manufactured by using cast iron, but sometimes it is made by be using composites like ceramic matrix composites or reinforced carbon-carbon. This is attached and linked with axle or the wheel. When it is intend to stop the wheel, friction in the form of brake pads, is increased on a device termed as brake caliper. It is pressurized hydraulically, mechanically, electromagnetically or pneumatically in opposition to both the sides of the disc. Friction resists the further movement of the wheel by forcing the disc to get slow or stop. Motion is converted into heat with brakes, and if the brakes get much heated, they turn out to be less effective, this phenomenon is called brake fade (Hammill, 2008.pp.101-10).

Discussion

The development and implementation of disc-style brakes started in England during1890s. Frederick William Lanchester introduced the first caliper-type automobile disc brake in his Birmingham, UK factory in 1902 that showed successful performance on Lanchester cars (The Editors of Popular Mechanics, 2008.pp.101-110).

The 1950 Crosley production first disk brakes in US H but the Chrysler Crown Imperial eventually introduced them as standard equipment at the starting of the 1949 model year. The four-wheel disc brake system introduced by Chrysler was considered to be more expensive and complex as compare to Crosley's, but still it was much reliable and effective. Chrysler discs were energized themselves, as it was designed in such a way that some of the braking energy itself supported for the braking effort practices. This ...