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This study presents a comparative evaluation of a conventional Cu-based friction material and a newly designed Fe-based composite with reduced environmental impact due to the lower toxicity of iron. Both metal-ceramic materials are widely used in practical applications, particularly in industrial systems such as railway and tram braking systems. The materials were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. Their friction and wear behaviour was experimentally evaluated using a brake dynamometer in accordance with the SAE J2522 test standard, which enables comparison under varying temperatures, initial and final braking speeds, and brake system pressures. The results show that the Cu-based material exhibits a decrease in the coefficient of friction with increasing temperature, declining from approximately 0.47 to 0.37. In contrast, the Fe-based material demonstrates significantly more stable friction behaviour, maintaining a relatively constant average coefficient of friction of around 0.45 over a wide temperature range (80-300 °C at the brake disc). Regarding wear performance, the Fe-based material exhibits a substantial reduction in brake pad wear, achieving up to 50 % lower values compared to the conventional Cu-based material, which also leads to reduced particulate emissions during braking. However, the Fe-based material causes increased wear of the brake disc relative to the Cu-based counterpart. Despite this drawback, the overall results indicate that the Fe-based material provides improved braking performance at elevated temperatures while significantly reducing brake pad wear and eliminating the use of copper. These findings highlight its strong potential as a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional Cu-based friction materials.
Keywords: metal–ceramic composites; friction materials; Cu- and Fe-based composites; wear behaviour; friction coefficient; brake systems; environmental impact© This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.