Hard Coating
Background
We all understand that traffic pollution is a significant environmental problem that can have harmful effects on human health and the environment. It is caused by the emissions from vehicles, including cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles. These emissions include pollutants such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxides (NOx), and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, less people understand that brake rotors play an important role in traffic pollution because the friction created by the brake pads on the rotor surface produces brake dust, which is composed of a mix of metal particles (from the rotor) and other materials such as ceramic, carbon and asbestos (from the brake pads). In fact, while tailpipe exhausts contribute ~7% of PM2.5 traffic pollution, ~20% is actually contributed by brake rotors. PM2.5 means that the particles are 2.5 micrometers in diameter which is small enough to be inhaled into the deepest regions of the lung.
Issue
Inhaling brake dust can be harmful to human health and can cause respiratory problems such as asthma, bronchitis and lung cancer. Also, brake dust can cause skin irritation, eye irritation and can aggravate existing health conditions such as allergies and asthma. It is estimated that chronic exposure to air pollution from fine particulate matter and nitrogen oxides from road traffic was responsible for more than 70,000 premature deaths in the EU-27 in 2018, out of 300,000 such deaths from air pollution as a whole.
In response to this, the European Union have developed the Euro 7 legislation for brake dust pollution which is a set of regulations to reduce the emissions of particulate matter (PM) and other pollutants from vehicles. These regulations will set new standards for brake dust emissions, among other things. They specify that by 1st July 2025, all new vehicles are limited to only being able to produce 7mg of fine dust particles per vehicle per kilometer. The legislation also includes requirements for more efficient brake systems and the use of more sustainable materials in brake systems to reduce the amount of brake dust produced. This is likely to cause dramatic issues for car manufacturers and aftermarket sales companies as there is currently a lack of effective solutions in the market. Furthermore, the automotive manufacturing industry has a two year lead time in production which means that time is running out for effective solutions to be developed! This means we are likely to see a lot of demand and a huge shortage in supply when the Euro 7 requirements come into effect. Not only this but by 1st July 2027, the EU & UK Parliament want to introduce a new law which will state that all cars built before July 2025, which are not older than 5 years, must have the new technology in their cars also!
Current Solutions
Current solutions to this problem are:
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Regenerative Braking
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Drum Brakes
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Brake Dust Filter
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Hard Coated Discs
While this is a massive concern for the industry, we have a solution available now!
Solution
We offer a hard coating solution (LMD coating + Long Term Corrosion Protection (Aludur)) which can be applied to any brake rotor on the market, providing a multitude of technical advantages to the standard cast iron discs utilised in the automotive industry today:
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Achievement of Euro 7 legislation requirements
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Cost effective coating system via mono layer
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For final machining, turning can be used
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Discs are fully protected against corrosion (Friction surface via laser cladding & rest of the disc via Aludur)
Laser Cladding Process
Step 1:
Step 2:
System Description Summary
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Coating system - LMD
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Layer Thickness
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Commercial Vehicle - 1.5mm
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Passenger Vehicle - 0.35mm
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Layer System - Mono Layer
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Effect on friction pad - None
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Corrosion protection for the rest of the disc - LTCP (Aludur)
To make an order or find our more please contact us directly!
Flat 11, 84 Elm Grove
Portsmouth
PO5 1LN
E-Mail: DAEnterprises1702@gmail.com