Effect of palm ash composition to the brake pad application

Abstract

The asbestos fibre as a filler material in brake pad has been avoided due to its carcinogenic nature that might cause health risks. Asbestos has now been replaced by a mix of alternative fibres such as mineral fibres, cellulose, aramid, PAN, chopped glass, steel and other metal fibre. This research was conducted to produce a non-asbestos brake pad. In this research, palm ash was used to replace asbestos. The composite samples for brake pad application were developed by pre-mix the palm ash, CaCO3, phenolic resins, Al2O3, graphite and steel fibre mill. Then, the material was compacted by using cold press/manual press machine. The physical and mechanical testing such as compression and wear test was carried out in this research. Results indicated that the higher percentage composition of palm ash has better compressive strength. The highest value for compressive strength is 14.93 MPa and the lowest value is 8.85 MPa. Wear test result indicated that the highest mass loss value is 0.2083 m3 for the lowest percentage palm ash whereas the lowest mass loss is 0.00969 m3 for the highest percentage of palm ash. The composition of non-asbestos showed comparable mechanical properties with conventional brake pads