Effect of zinc powder content on tribological behaviors of brake friction materials

Brake friction materials with different zinc powder contents (0, 2, 4, 6, 8 wt.%) were fabricated via powder metallurgy method. The results indicate that with the increasing zinc powder content, the density and thermal conductivity of the materials gradually increase, while the hardness decreases monotonously. With increasing zinc powder content, the curve of the nominal friction coefficient shows fluctuating trend but the lowest friction coefficient also shows an increase. However, the wear rate and braking noise of the friction material monotonously decrease with increasing zinc content. This effect may be attributed to the transformation of the tribological mechanism from adhesive wear and abrasive wear to adhesive wear. The brake friction material with 4 wt.% zinc powder exhibits both the best tribological and noise performance.