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Home> How To> Repair Brake System> What is a Brake Disc


What is a Brake Disc


 




 

 

 

The disc brake slows or stops the rotation of a wheel. A brake disc is usually made of cast iron or ceramic and is connected to the wheel. To stop the wheel, friction material in the form of brake pads (mounted in a caliper) is forced hydraulically against both sides of the disc. Friction causes the disc and attached wheel to slow or stop.

 

Disc brakes don't suffer the seizing (as drum brakes do) for several reasons. Firstly, they work by forcing a pair of pads against the outside of a spinning disc. Because, certainly on the front, they don't need to produce and hand brake effect, there is no mechanical adjustment and wear in the pads is compensated by slightly greater piston travel.

 

Further benefit of disc brakes is that the friction generation process takes place in open air, so there is far better cooling of the whole operator. To improve this even further, for hard braking applications (such as track days or motorsports) additional air can be ducted onto the brakes to cool them even more.

 

Discs will also usually be ventilated, with a series of vanes allowing air into the middle section of the disc. This increases the surface area that the cooling air comes into contact with and removing yet more heat for better efficiency.

 


 

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