HIGHER SPEEDS and heavier automobiles have put added demands on today's brake drums. This paper is a review of the braking problem as applied to materials, considering the metallurgical, structural, and chemical properties that account for mechanical properties required.
The discussion includes: (1) the use of higher carbon materials, such as malleable iron, graphitic steel, and high-carbon high-strength gray iron to obtain increased resistance to thermal shock and heat checking; (2) properties and structures of cast-iron drums; (3) brake drum wear data; and (4) typical compositions that meet mechanical properties.
