Brake pad taper wear on brake moan noise

Automotive brake systems today have many factors that can contribute to brake noise. Modern approaches to reduce the propensity of brake noise mostly target high frequency brake squeal. A more difficult constituent of brake noise to address is low frequency moan, which is typically caused when the brake system excites a suspension member with a constrained natural frequency in the range of excitation. Although most modern CAE techniques utilized to diagnose and solve brake noise issues focus on new brake pad condition, this paper will show the benefit of understanding a common wear mechanism “Taper Wear,᾿and attempt to correlate its effects on brake moan. In order to study this phenomenon, a finite element model of a disc brake is established, and a complex eigenvalue analysis (CEA) of the brake system is performed. The propensity of brake moan noise is evaluated on basis of damping ratio of a dynamic brake system model. By using the finite element model, effects of the brake pad taper wear on brake moan noise is studied. The results show that the brake pad taper wear is a significant factor for generating the instability causing the brake moan noise. The study is performed at various levels of brake pad taper wear. When the brake pad taper wear is more than 0.5 mm, the value of negative damping ratio rapidly increases, and the propensity of brake moan noise is greatly magnified. In this study, the simulation result correlated well with the test result, which provides the theory and guidance for brake moan noise control.