Comparative Performance Evaluation of Carbon & Basalt Fiber Reinforced Copper Composites for Brake Pads in Armoured Fighting Vehicles

##article.authors##

Utkarsh Chadha University of Toronto https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5044-3761
Mayank Khanna University of Bath https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7309-8219
Divyansh Srivastava Technische Universtitat Darmstadt https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3244-9182
Senthil Kumaran Selvaraj Vellore Institute of Technology
Dhanalakshmi S Combat Vehicles Research & Development Establishment, DRDO, Chennai

DOI:

Keywords:

Copper Brake Pads, Armoured Fighting Vehicles, Heavy Vehicles, Carbon Fiber', Basalt Fiber, Wear Behaviour, Powder Metallurgy

Abstract

Armoured Fighting Vehicles (AFVs) usually require durable brake pads with lesser wear and longevity. However, the currently deployed Copper MMC-based brake pads do not fully complement the requirements for an AFV. With the need for innovation, this research provides various recipes of brake pads with varying quantities of carbon or basalt reinforcement ranging from 0.25 wt% to 1.25%. However, the currently available literature does not provide sufficient evidence for using Basalt Fiber & Carbon fiber and the possible effects within an AFV’s environment. So, the formulations were tested, and compressed into green compact pin samples for experiments after sintering, like Vickers’ hardness test, Pin on Disc Wear Test, SEM analysis, EDX, and XRD analysis for validation. Additionally, modeling and simulation for brake pads and their assembly were done for 1.5 to 5 tonnes of load. This research provides a comparative study between Carbon and Basalt Fibers based copper samples for brake pad applications and high-performance applications like Armoured Fighting Vehicles.