Mcmasters Brake and Clutch Lining
 

Does anyone have experience with the mcmaster Brake and Clutch Lining, or something equivalent? If so, I have a ton of questions.:D

1. What does mcmaster mean by "Max. Coefficient of Friction"? Coefficient of friction depends on both materials in contact, so what is the other material in contact that produces the listed coefficient of friction? Is it the brake lining against itself? A random piece of steel?
(I sent a message to Mcmaster just now, waiting on response.)

Edit: Mcmaster replied, 30 minutes after I asked, at 2am in the morning on the west coast. This customer service is amazing.:yikes:
2. If this has been used before, what was the coefficient of friction and the setup?

3. How do I attach this? Mcmasters says that "strips can be riveted or bonded". What adhesive do I use? In my imagination, this is like a strip of cloth, so I don't understand gluing it:confused:. If I rivet it, do I rivet it in a spot that will never contact something else? Or can I counterbore a hole in the (fabric?:confused: ) and put a rivet in that? And that leads to my third question...

4. How fast does it wear? If I do counterbore a hole in the brake lining and put the rivet head below the surface of the brake lining, how long will the brake last before the rivet head starts rubbing?

Thanks!

Re: Mcmasters Brake and Clutch Lining
 

Most brake systems use disks or drums made of metal. I would imagine testing is done against steel or cast iron. Thicker lining is normally counter bored and riveted. Thinner materials are bonded with glue. I suspect the adhesive used is likely some type of high temperature contact cement. For FRC where temperatures would be low you might get away with less exotic or specialized adhesive. I'd start testing with some of the 3M spray adhesives. You can source 3M 77 at Home Depot. Others are industrial and can be ordered from McMaster. I wonder how Gorilla glue would do?

http://www.mcmaster.com/#aerosol-adhesives/=137ij6a

Searching google for "brake lining adhesive" turned up a bunch of results including this video which demonstrates the process including testing of an adhesive called Anabond 230.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd9cLW1hMOQ

Re: Mcmasters Brake and Clutch Lining
 

This is not fabric. Think "soft stone" for an approximation. As stated, thick materials (it comes up to 3/4") are counterbored and riveted, thin material is glued. 3M 77 is a good start, or some epoxy resin perhaps. If you expect any kind of heat, get a glue that can handle it.

If anyone works on cars, they might be able to show you a car's brake pad, which is a lot like this stuff.

Re: Mcmasters Brake and Clutch Lining
 

254 implemented a custom brake disk solution in 2015 for there elevator carriages.

Re: Mcmasters Brake and Clutch Lining
 

The arm gearbox I designed for 649 utilized a piston-actuated piston brake. The material used as the friction material was urethane as opposed to the materials in the link you provided. From what I heard, the setup has endured quite well during the competition season.

Of course, you would need to consider piston force and other factors, but I guess this would be "something equivalent" to the Brake and Clutch lining. Personally, I would recommend urethane, me coming from a team with experience with it in such applications.

Re: Mcmasters Brake and Clutch Lining
 

Just chiming in here to let you know. It's still working great even after many post-season events and demos. quite an impressive system you made there. The Urethane pads haven't worn at all because the aluminum plate stops the instant it's pushed into it. :P