Automobile Brake Systems - Research Paper Example

Automobile Brake Systems How a Brake System Works A basic braking system consists of the brake device components which are applied in the slowing down or stopping a vehicle. The following are the components of a barking system; brake cylinders, brake boosters, wheel studs, pumps, roll, and brake lines (Automotive-Online.com, n.d.). The brake system works according to the laws or the principles of physics; the idea of energy is a common part of the physical science. Energy is the capability to perform work and it comes in many similar forms such as mechanical energy, chemical energy, electrical energy and heat energy.

These forms of energy are common in automobile systems (Owen, 2003).The brake systems convert one type of physical energy to another. The brake changes kinetic energy of motion to heat energy through the use of friction when the automobile is slowing down or stopping (Owen, 2003).There are two forms of friction that describe how the brake systems work; moving or kinetic or the stationary or static. The intensity of friction depends on the smoothness of the rubbing surfaces, the form of materials in contact and the pressure that is holding them together (weight or the gravity) (Erjavec, 2005).

Friction changes the kinetic or moving energy into heat. The amount of heat produced is proportional to the amount of friction between the two moving surfaces. When the brakes are applied on a moving automobile, the pads or shoes (rough-textured) are pressed against the drums or the rotors or discs. The drums, discs and the rotors are the moving parts of the automobile. The kinetic energy of the automobile is converted into heat energy. The heat energy is produced by the kinetic friction of the rubbing surfaces of the automobile; the truck or the car slows down.

When the automobile stops, it is kept in place by the static friction. Static friction works by creating friction between the brake surfaces and between the road and the tires and these resist any movement. There are four factors that govern the braking of an automobile; the first three factors are related to friction and they are coefficient of friction, pressure and frictional contact surface, and the fourth factor is the result of friction (heat) (Erjavec, 2005). How the Front Brakes Remain Active Even When the Rear Brakes Fail This is achieved through a diagonally split system.

The system uses the primary and secondary master cylinders to apply hydraulic pressure on the respective systems the cylinders simultaneously moving. The brake lines are split diagonally that is front to rear (right front to left rear and left front to right rear). When there is a system failure, the braking is done by the remaining good system that is one front wheel and one rear wheel; this maintains the 50 percent total braking force. In the older systems (front/rear split system), the front brakes did most of the braking functions (approximately 70 percent), in case of a rear brake system failure and the rear brakes did approximately 20 to 40 percent of the braking functions in case of a failure in the front brake system (Erjavec, 2005).

ReferencesAutomotive-Online.com. (n.d.). Automotive or automobile brake system. Retrieved from http://www.automotive-online.com/braking-system/Erjavec, J. (2005). Automotive technology: A systems approach, volume 2. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.Owen, C. E. (2003). Shop manual for automotive brake systems. New York, NY: Cengage Learning.