High-temperature treatment for safe and reliable braking performance
Due to the continuous advancements in engine performance and automotive technology, brake pads are under increasing developmental pressure.
To meet these demands, production procedures are optimised with each new generation of brake pad. One key step in this process is scorching, which ensures superior braking performance even under extreme conditions.
Bosch explains the scorching process in more detail:
Increased engine performance, increased brake force
With every generation of vehicle, the requirements placed on braking components increases. This is due to the constant rise in engine performance and automotive technology as growing demands and expectations drivers place on comfort. Brake systems – and brake pads in particular – are thus subject to extreme development pressure.
Brake-pad scorching at the brake laboratory during the development
Constantly changing demands
“We do actually know how to deal with pressure,” Dr. Christof Gente, Bosch development engineer for brake-pad mixtures at the brake laboratory in Karlsruhe, said jokingly, “after all, pressure – particularly brake pressure – is our daily business. But then, of course, developing a premium product is not too easy if the demands placed on it increase with nearly every new vehicle model. Therefore, it all comes down to determining the brake-pad formula best meeting the requirements.”
Production processes brought to perfection
The production procedures are thus optimised with each new brake pad. Just take the example of scorching, the last thermal processing step of high- performance brake pads. Extremely high temperatures – of up to 600 °C – modify the chemical structure of the brake-pad surface thus reducing the bedding-in time.
Therefore, Bosch brake pads quickly provide safe and reliable braking performance. This high-temperature treatment is particularly important considering the high performance requirements in European car traffic. Unlike surface coatings, the scorching of Bosch brake pads ensures top braking behaviour in extreme braking situations – even long after the bed- ding in.
The best solution for each demand
And yet, brake-pad development is a broad eld. In order to produce OE-quality brake pads, acoustic and comfort behaviours need to be optimised in addition to performance and wear behaviour. Although the requirements as such are already pretty high in this area, in terms of quality Bosch “raises the bar even more” for its customers.
While all brake-pad mixtures have to pass the ECE R 90 test standardised by the European Union, Bosch brake pads meet even much higher requirements. For this purpose, sophisticated test procedures are applied. Their sole objective: Providing the customer with evidence of top performance in terms of safety and comfort.
Additional pad refinement for Bosch quality
What is more, each brake pad that passed the stringent Bosch tests is equipped with the required selected accessories – depending on the vehicle model. In this manner, top performance is complemented by optimum comfort behaviour. “The overall quality is to be an outstanding one” Dr. Gente said. “Our customers on the after- market wouldn’t accept anything less. That’s what we call ‘Bosch quality’.”
