WHAT IS BRAKING SYSTEM ?

Can’t think of a safety system on a vehicle that is more important or basic than this one. What it basically does is slow down
the rotation of the wheels so that your car comes to a complete stop. You must have seen kids playing with rolling tires down
the driveway. To stop the tire, you just have to grab it and squeeze and the resulting friction will then take care of the rolling.
The same thing happens in your car, truck, or SUV. You push down your brake pedal and your braking system resists the
rotation of the wheels, thus taking the kinetic energy of your car and converting it to mainly thermal energy through friction.
This retardation brings your three-thousand-pound-plus metal machine to rest. The concept is the same, but the equipment,
well that’s a bit more complicated.

CLASSIFICATION
Now, the evolution of the braking system has been happening over a long period of time (and still ongoing of course), so it’s a
little bit tricky to pinpoint the exact premiere. Based on what we’ve encountered over the years, braking systems can be
classified as follows:

● Mechanical Braking System

● Hydraulic Braking System
● Electromagnetic Braking System
MECHANICAL BRAKING SYSTEM
One of the most straightforward braking mechanisms developed ever. It basically comprises various mechanical linkages,
levers and other related elements that work together to slow down the rotation of the rotating shaft over which the wheels are
mounted. Band brake, the simplest configuration, consists of a metal band lined with wear and heat resistant friction material.
Other types include the Disc and Drum Brake Systems which we will discuss in quite some detail.

HYDRAULIC BRAKING SYSTEM

Ingenuity at its best. Remember Pascal’s Law ? Well,
this one works on that principle. To jog your memory,
Pascal’s Law states that, when you apply pressure at
any point in a confined fluid (at rest), then that
pressure is transmitted equally and undiminished
throughout the volume of the fluid. A hydraulic
braking system transmits brake-pedal force to the
wheel brakes through pressurized fluid, converting the
fluid pressure into useful work of braking at the
wheels.

The brake pedal relays the driver’s foot effort to the master-cylinder
piston, which compresses the brake fluid. This fluid pressure is equally
transmitted throughout the fluid to the front disc-caliper pistons and to
the rear wheel-cylinder pistons, where this pressure is utilized to rub
the friction material against the wheel hub (in case of drum brakes) or
against the brake disc (disc brakes of course). The given diagram gives
a brief sketch of the components of this system.

ELECTROMAGNETIC BRAKING SYSTEM

This is a clever application of electromagnets. It operates through
Electric actuation but produces braking action mechanically. The
electromagnetic field produced by the electromagnet is used to stop the
rotation of the output shaft.
Basic working of the Electromagnetic Braking System:

1. When the current supply from the battery starts to flow to the coil, the coil becomes an electromagnet & produces a
magnetic field.
2. Due to this magnetic field, the armature that rotates about the shaft gets pulled (attracted) towards the stator. Friction
comes into play between armature & friction material. Due to this friction, the Armature & shaft rotation stops.
3. Thus the brake is applied. When the current supply to the coil stops creating the magnetic field.
4. Without the magnetic field, the attraction force on the armature dies off & the stressed spring pulls the armature
towards the armature hub. As a result, the brake is released.

Two of the most commonly used brakes are the drum brakes and the disc brakes. These can be both Hydraulic and
mechanical. Here, we shall discuss their basic structure and working.

DRUM BRAKES

Given is a figure of a commonly used Hydraulic

drum brake system. When the driver steps on the
brake pedal, the power is amplified by the brake
booster (servo system) and changed into hydraulic
pressure (oil-pressure) by the master cylinder.

The pressure reaches the brakes on the wheels via tubing filled with
brake oil (brake fluid). The delivered pressure pushes the pistons on the
brakes of the four wheels. The pistons press the brake linings, which are
friction materials, against the inside surfaces of the brake drums which
rotate with the wheels. The linings are pressed on the rotating drums,
which in turn decelerate the wheels, thereby slowing down and stopping
the vehicle.

DISC BRAKES

This is an interesting one. Shown are the parts of a basic Disc Brake Assembly.
When the driver steps on the brake pedal, the power is amplified by the brake
booster (servo system) and changed into a hydraulic pressure (oil-pressure) by
the master cylinder. The pressure reaches the brakes on the wheels via tubing
filled with brake oil (brake fluid).
 The delivered pressure pushes the pistons on the brakes of the four wheels.
The pistons in turn press the brake pads, which are friction material,
against the brake rotors which rotate with the wheels. The pads clamp on
the rotors from both sides and decelerate the wheels, thereby slowing down
and stopping the vehicle.

It’s time for some innovations in modern automobile braking systems !!!

ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM (ABS)

Before jumping into ABS, let’s remind you of the fundamentals of

rotational mechanics. Consider a rotating wheel that is also translating
with a certain linear velocity (basic rolling motion). Now, ideally, the
point of contact wants to stay at rest (pure rolling of course). The
situation is depicted in the figure shown. As you can see, the contact
point is at rest. Now, you may ask why our car turns if we turn the
steering wheel. Well, that’s simple physics. Just think for a moment
that the car doesn’t turn when the wheels turn. Then, the point of
contact will no longer be at rest. So turning is the only way.

Now coming to the problematic part. When we apply the brake pedal, the wheels might lock and if they do so, turning the
steering wheel won’t turn your car (wheel doesn’t have any rotational velocity; it only has linear velocity so it will continue
sliding forward due to the initial inertia). As a result, if you can’t turn you will crash. ABS solves this problem.

Basic working of ABS:

○ The controller (ECU-Electronic Control Unit) reads the signal from each of the speed sensors of the wheel.
○ As the brakes are suddenly applied by the driver, this makes the wheel to decelerate at a faster rate and may
cause the wheel to Lock.
 ○ As the ECU reads the signal which indicates the rapid decrease in the speed of the wheel, it sends a signal to
the valve which makes the valve close and the pressure to the brake
pad reduces and prevents the wheel from locking.
○ The wheel again starts to accelerate, again the signal sends to the
controller, this time it opens the valve, increasing the pressure to the
brake pad and brakes are applied, this again reduces the speed of the
wheel and tries to make it stop.
○ This process of applying brakes and releasing it happens 15 times in a
second when a driver suddenly applies the brake harder. Due to this
the locking of the wheel is prevented and the skidding of the vehicle
eliminated. During braking with the ABS system, the driver can
steer the vehicle and reduces the risk of vehicle collision.

Cool, right ?

ELECTRONIC BRAKE-FORCE DISTRIBUTION (EBD)

An extension of the ABS responsible for diverting equal brakeforce

to the respective wheel. Electronic Brake Distribution system uses the
vehicle’s ABS to adjust the braking force between all the wheels
depending on tyre grip. It automatically adjusts the brake force
depending on conditions to make sure that the front and rear axles
yield the best braking force possible without the wheel locking up.
This prevents the automobile from rotating due to the different
traction on the wheels.

These systems work in tandem with ABS using an electronically controlled

valve which diverts hydraulic pressure to the front and rear axles. EBD offers
significant braking durability under any conditions and is not dependent on ABS
to operate.The hardware of EBD comprises the following components which
are: Wheel Speed sensors, load sensors, Brake force modulators /Valves,
Electronic Control Unit (ECU).

BRAKING ASSIST (BA)

Also known as Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) is another piece of car braking technology.
As the name suggests, it is responsible to assist the driver in emergency stop situations. If
you have been through a situation where you had to attempt an emergency stop, you might
have felt like jamming the brake pedal all through the floor. However, an average driver isn’t
actually fast enough for a situation like this, where a millisecond of delay can translate to catastrophe. This is where Braking
Assist steps in. Brake assist converts that mild pedal pushes to a complete halt. A sensor attached to the brake pedal triggers
the brake assist system to detect when the driver is attempting to stop in an emergency situation and applies full braking
pressure until the car comes to a complete halt.

REGENERATIVE BRAKING

Here comes my favorite part. This is where I can tell you, “Welcome to
the 21st century !!”. If you’re interested in buying an electric or HEV
car, you may have heard about regenerative braking.When you step on
your petrol or diesel car’s brake pedal, hydraulic fluid pushes brake
pads against brake discs on each wheel or drums on older and cheaper
models). The resulting friction works to slow the car down, generating
heat and wearing away at the material on the pads and discs in the
process. Regenerative braking is a way of taking the wasted energy
from the process of slowing down a car and using it to recharge the
car’s batteries.

Well, how does it work?

The electric motor in your hybrid or electric car runs in two directions -
one to drive the wheels and move the car, and the other to recharge the
battery. When you lift your foot off the accelerator pedal and onto the
brake, the motor swaps directions and starts to put energy back into the
battery. When this process kicks in, you can feel the car start to slow down.
It’s a different sensation in each car that has this function, because
manufacturers can program-in how much regenerative braking occurs when
you lift off the pedal. All cars still have normal brakes, so if you push the
pedal hard enough then the hydraulic system will kick in to get you stopped
quickly (depending on your speed). Again, different cars will have different
amounts of force on the pedal needed to get the brakes to kick in.

Significant Reduction in WASTE ENERGY !!

REFERENCES
For further details you may refer to the following sites:

What is Regenerative Braking?

ABS, EBD, BA: Car Braking Technology Explained!
Understanding Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) !
Drum Brakes｜Brakes for Automobiles｜Product｜Products and Technologies | Akebono Brake Industry Co., Ltd.
Disc Brakes｜Brakes for Automobiles｜Product｜Products and Technologies | Akebono Brake Industry Co., Ltd.
How do disc brakes work in cars and light vehicles. (3D animation)
How do drum brakes work in cars and light vehicles. (3D animation)
How do hydraulic brakes in cars and light vehicles work 3D animation
Report by:

Rishav Nandi
B.E. Mechanical Engineering

Subhamoy Dutta
B.E. Mechanical Engineering