Saturday, November 15, 2014

Carbon Brakes or Metallic Brakes: What is the better choice?

Brief Intro:

Brakes are used to stop the Airplane (simple)
Operationally, the brakes convert the Kinetic Energy of the moving airplane to Heat Energy (that is why they are also known as Heat Packs) which is dissipated into the atmosphere by air flowing over the brake units.
Heat results in increased temperature, which directly impacts the life of braking unit.

METAL BRAKES
Steel pads are used between the Pressure and Backing Plates, when these plates are forced into each other the friction of the brakes cause the wheels to stop (this process in turn generates a lot of heat)
Steel Brakes are generally cheaper in price than their carbon counterparts and this was the primary reason they were being used.
But the problems with these brakes is their higher frequency of overhauls and also their heavy weights.

CARBON BRAKES

As it has been previously discussed that the brakes are kinetic to heat energy converters, thus their efficiency depends upon the amount of energy that can be absorbed by the brake.
In carbon brakes, the friction is produced by carbon fibre discs, which are capable of absorbing much more energy than the conventional metal brakes, thus they are more efficient in braking applications.
Other major advantage of the carbon brakes is they are much lighter as compared to metal brakes having same efficiency, this weight saving (of around 200-400 kg) is a of great advantage in terms of less fuel consumption. Less emission of CO2 by Engines is another by-product.
Carbon Brakes are more expensive than metal brakes yet they justify their cost by increased time between overhauls.


SUMMARY


Carbon Brakes are preferred on aircraft because following aspects:

1. Higher braking efficiency (greater energy absorption capability)
2. Weight saving (Fuel saving)
3. Less pollution (less emission of CO2 due to decreased fuel consumption)
4. More time between overhauls

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