How Does a Brake Pad Work?
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History of Brake Pads
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Brake pads were conceptualized and created in England during the late 1800s. Previously, brakes were drum brakes, and these did not do well when wet by street water or rain, and often overheated. The early 1900s saw the first patent on the disc-shaped brake pad. This type of pad was first used on the Jaguar racing car in the United Kingdom. American cars caught on to this innovation, and fit their own disc brakes on the 1963 Avanti, and the 1965 Chevrolet Corvette.
How the Pressure Works on a Disc Brake Pad
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Unlike the shoes on a drum brake which convert motion into heat, pads on a disc brake literally hug the wheel. The amount of pressure a driver applies to the brake pedal is a relative amount of force that will be applied to the brake pads. This means that the driver can feel how much pressure he is applying to the brakes. The driver may also apply a pumping motion to allow a car to slow down without losing control of the vehicle, all thanks to the relative force that is applied to disc brake pads. Most of the pressure is placed on the front brakes when stopping a vehicle, though drum brakes may be applied to the rear wheels for parking purposes.
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How Friction is Applied to Stop a Car
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Car wheels have ceramic or cast iron discs mounted directly onto the wheel or the axle. These solid discs sandwich the wheel when a driver applies pressure to the brake pedal in an automobile. The pressure against the discs comes from mechanical force pushing a pair of calipers. Each caliper has a brake pad. The pads are what actually cause the friction, but also recover quickly from water, as well as resist overheating. Each brake unit is connected through pipes or tubes to the master cylinder. This is where the plunger is located. The plunger is connected directly to the brake pedal that the driver steps on to stop the car. Brake fluid gets forced through the pipes and tubes to the calipers as a result of the pressure being applied to the brake pedal.
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