Air applied, mechanically held (AAMH) air brake systems or lock actuators as they are sometimes called in Europe, have been around for a long time but they were not well known nor have past designs been very successful. Now a new design in a piston configuration and an internal wedge locking mechanism overcomes previous problems with this type of system and offers operating advantages over the common spring brake system.
This paper examines the operation of the AAMH system.
