Optimization of friction parameters of brake pads using a population-based metaheuristic algorithm

Brake pads in a vehicle play an important role in dissipating the heat generated into the atmosphere and ensuring efficient braking. The coefficient of friction, pad wear, and disc wear are a few important tribological properties of a brake pad. Different compositions of the brake friction material formulations, with and without reinforcements, have been studied by various researchers, and the results are available in the literature. This paper proposes a mathematical model to analyse the friction properties using the physical properties and evaluate a better one. Three different combinations of low metallic brake pads made by SnS coated steel fiber, (DBS), Function Evaluations (FEs) coated steel fiber (DBF) and a mixture of steel fiber and metal sulfides (DBO) were chosen for this study. The physical, chemical, mechanical and tribological properties of the brake pads were evaluated following industrial standards. Both single-objective and multi-objective optimization are carried out with and without cost constraints. The metaheuristic algorithm “T-Cos” is used for this analysis. The model identifies the better combination as DBS which aligns with the one available in the literature. Different options are possible and can be evaluated and validated using this model. The main challenge for this model is formulating accurate mathematical expressions relating the physical properties of the friction materials and the resulting friction parameters.