Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

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Materials & Design

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/matdes

Evaluation of the wear resistance of aluminium-based hybrid composite

brake discs under relevant city rail environments
Dong Tan a, Shaohua Xia a, Andrew Yob b, Kun Yang b, Shiqin Yan b, Michel Givord b, Daniel Liang b,⇑
a
CRRC Qishuyan Institute, Changzhou, Jiangsu 213011, China
b
CSIRO Manufacturing, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia

h i g h l i g h t s g r a p h i c a l a b s t r a c t

 Hybrid brake discs consisting of

composite tops and aluminium alloy
bases demonstrates advanced
performance during full-scale
dynamometer tests under city-rail
environments.
 Friction stir processing of the hybrid
brake discs create graded
microstructures and properties
between the top and bottom of the
brake disc.
 The most refined microstructures
with a uniform distribution of
thermally-stable SiC and Si particles
is in the brake disc top where the
hardness is the highest.
 The highest elongation is obtained at
the top of the aluminium base close
to the interface with the composite
top.
 The graded distributions of hardness,
elongation and strength are
attributed to the satisfactory
performance by the brake disc at
elevated temperatures.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Lightweight hybrid composite brake discs consisting of a A357/SiC aluminium matrix composite (AMMC)
Received 20 December 2021 top layer and an AA6082 Al alloy bottom base are fabricated by friction-stir processing. These hybrid
Revised 19 February 2022 AMMC brake discs demonstrate excellent wear and friction performance in full-scale dynamometer brak-
Accepted 28 February 2022
ing tests under relevant environments for operating a city rail vehicle. Characterisation and analysis con-
Available online 2 March 2022
ducted on the tested brake discs correlate these performances to a series of improvements in
microstructures and properties. They include the presence of thermally stable and hard SiC particles
Keywords:
enhancing wear resistance, especially at elevated temperatures, the refinement of microstructures by
Brake disc
Lightweight
the uniform distribution of these SiC particles as well as secondary particles resulting in minimised crack
Hybrid initiation, and the generation of gradient hardness and tensile properties leading to increased resistance
Metal matrix composites to external impacts and reduced internal thermal stress. The excellent performance of the lightweight

⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: daniel.liang@csiro.au (D. Liang).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2022.110504
0264-1275/Ó 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

Aluminium alloys hybrid composite brake discs confirms its high technology readiness level to replace heavy iron and steel
SiC brake discs in city rail vehicles.
Wear Ó 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Cracking
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
High temperatures

1. Introduction friction stir processing technology for city-rail vehicles that travel
at a nominal speed of 120 km per hour (km/h) or less. The hybrid
The rapid expansion of rail transportation continuously composite brake disc is manufactured with the thin AMMC layer
demands the improvements of the rail vehicles to operate at higher on top of an Al alloy base. The AMMC material is only deployed
speeds and to consume less energy while providing passengers as the top layer of the brake disc for achieving a required wear
greater safety and comfort. Light-weighting of every aspect of rail resistance, rather entirely used for making the whole body of the
vehicles has been the focus to achieve these improvements. disc, to minimise the use of the expensive AMMC materials. Char-
Replacing heavy iron and steel components with light-alloy based acterisation of the hybrid brake disc is detailed in terms of the dis-
materials has been demonstrated to be one of the most effective tribution of added ceramic particles, the refinement of matrix
solutions for reducing the weight of a rail vehicle. microstructures, hardness and tensile properties. More impor-
One such replacement being developed is the use of rail brake tantly, the wear performance of the hybrid composite brake disc
discs made of lightweight aluminium (Al) alloy-based materials is evaluated in a series of full-size dynamometer braking tests
instead of cast iron or forged steel. As the Al alloys lack the under a thermal, stress, and wear environment relevant for operat-
required wear resistance, Al alloy metal matrix composites ing a city-rail vehicle at 120 km/h. Such an evaluation is essential
(AMMCs) have been studied as lightweight but wear-resistant to demonstrate a high technology readiness level of lightweight
materials for the brake discs [1–7]. Compared with cast iron and hybrid composite discs to replace heavy iron and steel brake discs.
steel, the key challenge found in applying the AMMC materials to It is the first time, to the best of authors knowledge, that the
rail brake discs is reducing the wear resistance with increasing development of a friction stirring process to produce hybrid AMMC
temperature [4–7]. When the working temperature rises to and Al alloy composite rail brake discs, especially at a full scale, is
between 100 °C and 200 °C, cracks appear in the brake disc surface disclosed. The only reported method in literature for fabricating a
that is in contact with brake pads. As a result, delamination of the similar hybrid Al-Si/SiC composite brake disc is based on a
materials from the surface occurs, leaving scratching and grooving liquid-state casting process [16]. Using the solid-state-
damage on the contact surface of the brake discs. Eventually, the deformation friction stirring in the study, rather than of a liquid-
disc fails as a result of the excessive propagation of the cracks, state solidification (e.g. casting) or powder metallurgical processes,
expansion of the grooves in depth and width, and loss of material. not only results in a fatigue-resistant bonding between the top
Reasons for the low resistance of the AMMC brake discs to crack AMMC layer and the bottom Al alloy base, but also achieves unique
initiation and wear loss include an insufficient amount of the hard improvements of microstructures and properties when compared
ceramic powders in the Al alloy matrix, the coarse dendritic with all the other technologies for manufacturing AMMC-based
microstructure of the Al alloy matrix, non-uniform distribution of wear-resistant materials [1–16]. The most important examples of
ceramic powders and the relatively low strength of AMMCs at these improvements are attributed to its abilities to distribute a
higher temperatures [7–14]. The most recent work on increasing high fraction of ceramic particles (e.g. 20–30% or higher) uniformly
the level of the ceramic powders and improving their distribution in metal matrix, to refine microstructures of the metal matrix
in the Al alloy matrix concentrated on the optimisation of the by>5–10 times, and to create a gradient microstructure from the
AMMC fabrication process, which is based on a stir casting process AMMC top layer to the Al alloy bottom base, allowing to attain
[15]. Currently, the level of the ceramic powders in commercial superior wear-resistance properties that were not possible to
AMMCs has been increased up to 20–30% (volume) for a selected achieve by other processes. In addition, the scalability of the fric-
range of powder sizes, involving an extensive melt mixing treat- tion stirring process is high, as it is suitable for automation opera-
ment under vacuum or controlled atmosphere to prevent cluster- tion, flexible of producing different shapes and larger size products,
ing of the ceramic particles and oxidation of the Al alloy melts. and adaptable to a wide range of AMMC sheets with different pack-
However, the microstructural imperfections previously identified ing densities and microstructures as feedstocks, which can be pro-
still persist, including coarse dendritic microstructures of the Al duced by various processes, such as casting, deposition, packing
alloy matrix and segregation of the ceramic powders between multiple layers, additive manufacturing, etc., promoting a speedy
the Al dendrites. transition of the technology from R&Ds to industrial production.
Furthermore, the cost of the AMMC materials is expensive, e.g.
two or three times the price of Al alloys. The extensive melt treat-
ment contributes the majority of the high AMMC costs. AMMCs 2. Experimental procedures
produced in such a way remain too expensive to be competitive,
especially if they have to be used in large quantities. Considering 2.1. Materials
the large dimensions of the rail brake discs, the amount of the
expensive AMMC materials required will be significant, and the The hybrid design of the composite brake discs offers a degree
cost of the brake disc is consequently very high. This high cost will of flexibility in materials selection. The strategy for choosing mate-
prevent large-volume commercial application and hamper the sus- rials reflects several facts and considerations. Firstly, the thermal
tainability of deploying the AMMC brake disc in the rail vehicles. conductivity of all commercial Al alloys is much higher than those
Hence, it is essential to overcome the AMMC drawbacks of cracking of cast iron and steels [17–21], so replacing iron and steel with Al
failure and high cost before it can be accepted as a lightweight iron alloys will improve the ability to conduct friction heat away from
and steel replacement. the disc-pad contact surfaces and dissipate it from the free surface
This study reports the characterisation and performance of a of the disc bottom. Secondly, the mechanical properties of the cost-
hybrid AMMC and Al alloy composite brake disc fabricated by a effective commercial Al alloys are adequate as the main body of the
brake disc (e.g. the brake disc base), as long as they are not in con-
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D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

tact with the wearing brake pads and their working temperature is As demonstrated in the production friction stir machine, shown
not excessive. Thirdly, in addition to deploying low-cost and high in Fig. 2, this new fabrication method can routinely produce full-
thermal conductivity Al alloy as the matrix in the top AMMC layer, size rail brake discs of 600–700 mm diameter of high quality at a
the added ceramic particles also should possess good thermal con- commercial production rate. Compared with the casting method
ductivity since this can significantly affect the rate of heat transfer to fabricate whole-body MMC brake disc, the friction-stir fabricat-
from the contact surface into the disc base, which determines the ing route has the advantages of being an automated process with
working temperature at the contact surface. low capital cost, leading to reliable production, low product rejec-
In this study, feedstock materials for the AMMC layer on the top tion and fast scale-up of the production volume to meet market
of the Al alloy base are A357 Al alloy and silicon carbide (SiC) par- demands. The key developments for reaching the high level of
ticles which are both widely available and low-cost. The SiC parti- the pre-production readiness, of which details are being prepared
cles pass mesh 400# with a mean size of 12.8 mm and the purity of for future publication, were the successes in minimising processing
the particles is 98% of SiC or greater. The A357 alloy is based on Al- defects and achieving repeatability and reliability of microstruc-
7 wt (wt)% Si based alloy and its chemical composition obtained by tures and performance.
inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP- Following quality control (QC) practices in the production of
OES) is listed in Table 1. The Al alloy disc base is made of wrought steel and cast-iron rail brake discs, some defects are allowed in
AA6082 that is based on the Al-Mg-Si-Mn alloy, and the specifica- the contact surface of the produced hybrid A357/SiC AMMC brake
tion of the alloy is also given in the Table 1. discs after machining. According to the industrial standards for
The use of the A357 alloy as the matrix of the AMMC top layer steel discs [27–32], slags, gas bubbles and inclusions of up to
and the AA6082 alloy as the disc base has the advantage over the 2 mm in diameter and 1.5 mm in depth are allowed. Similarly,
brake disc of whole-body iron or steel of not only light- the hybrid AMMC discs pass the QC examination for the full-size
weighting but also lowering the working temperature of the brake dynamometer braking tests if there are only 1 or 2 hole defects that
disc. Similarly, the SiC particles are selected as the ceramic are less than 2–3 mm in length on the machined contact surfaces.
enhancement because of their low weight and good thermal con- Fig. 4 (a) is the friction-surface image of the hybrid A357/SiC com-
ductivity for dissipating heat generated by braking friction, in addi- posite brake disc assembled ready for the dynamometer braking
tion to thermal stability and high hardness. tests after passing the QC inspection.
Fig. 4 (b) shows two organic brake pads to be paired with the
hybrid A357/SiC AMMC brake disc. They have a total area of
400 cm2 and typically contain elements of carbon, silicon (Si), sul-
2.2. Fabrication fur (S), chromium (Cr), molybdenum (Mo), phosphorus (P), etc.,
[33].
The A357/SiC AMMC material feedstocks were firstly cast into
sheet forms of about 6–10 mm thickness with the added SiC parti-
cles in the A357/SiC AMMCs at about 20 vol%, which is comparable 2.3. Full-size dynamometer braking tests under relevant environment
to the SiC concentrations in the commercially supplied AMMCs
[22]. Subsequently, the hybrid composite brake discs (Fig. 1) were The full-size hybrid composite brake discs that passed QC were
fabricated by integrating these A357/SiC AMMC material sheet tested using a dynamometer test platform at CRRC Qishuyan Insti-
onto the top of the AA6082 alloy brake disc base of about 50 mm tute (CRRC QSY) (Fig. 3). This test platform is one of the only two
height and 650 mm diameter using friction stir processing. This facilities authorised by the rail regulators in China to verify the
process is based on severe solid-state plastic deformation with full-range performance of new rail brake products or confirm the
the aid of friction-generated heat, and it often raises workpiece rail worthiness of serviced brake products before they can be re-
temperatures to 300–400 °C, resulting in in-situ annealing of the deployed in commercial rail vehicles.
workpieces if they are Al alloys [22–26]. The braking conditions that this platform can achieve include
During the friction stirring process as shown in Fig. 2, the A357/ those analogous to highest train speed in China, i.e. up to
SiC AMMC sheet is placed on the top of the AA6082 alloy base. 550 km/h, a specific clamping force of 58 kN/m2, and a torque of
Then a rod-like friction stirring tool, rotating at 1,000 revolution 30,000 N m. This wide range of testing parameters can effectively
per minute (rpm) or less and titled 3° vertically, plunges into the provide almost all the relevant braking environments for slowing
top A357/SiC sheet at one end of the sheet, penetrates through it, and stopping a vehicle, such as routine braking cycles, emergency
and enters about 1 mm deep into the surface of the bottom stops, down-hill braking, and simulating different harsh working
AA6082 base. Next this rotating stirring tool travels on the surface environments, including high wind, sandstorm, rain, snow, and
A357/SiC AMMC sheet at speed of 100 – 200 mm per minute extreme cold. The test data that can be generated by the platform
toward the other end of the sheet, completing a friction stirring include friction coefficients, braking distances, braking duration,
pass. These procedures are repeated to form a number of parallel noise level, sparking, wear resistance, fatigue resistance, life spans
and overlapping the passes over the entire surface area of the and working temperature. These capabilities have enabled the
A357/SiC AMMC sheet. Within these passes, solid-state material platform to evaluate brake systems for all types of rails, such as
flows are created vertically and horizontally by the stirring tool light city rail, high-speed trains and freight trains, as well as the
at the interfaces between the top A357/SiC sheet and the AA6082 brakes for other heavy-haul land transportation (e.g. freight
base. The mixing of these materials at the interface joins the top trucks).
sheet and bottom base in the same way as lap-welding of two In this study, the objective of designing testing brake cycles is to
sheets by friction stir welding. match the braking of city rail vehicles in both routine operation

Table 1
Chemical analysis of the A357 Al alloy that is the matrix in the AMMC top layer and the specification of the AA6082 alloy for the brake disc base.

Elements Cu (%) Si (%) Mn (%) Mg (%) Fe (%) Ti (%) Zn (%) Cr (%)

A357 ＜0.01 7.15 ＜0.01 0.40 0.10 0.09 ＜0.01 /
AA6082 0.10 0.7–1.3 0.4–1.0 0.6–1.2 0.50 0.10 0.20 0.20

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D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

Fig. 1. A layered hybrid composite brake disc of 640 mm outer diameter: (a) the top view showing the surface that is in contact with brake pads (b) the bottom view showing
the cooling fins.

Fig. 2. The industrial-scale friction stir additive manufacturing equipment with an inset schematic showing the MMC forming process.

and demanding harsh working situations. In a routine braking remains within a specified range in each of these braking cycles,
operation to stop a city rail vehicle travelling at a maximum speed resistance against cracking in the contact surfaces of the disc, espe-
of 120 km/h, regenerative braking is normally employed first, in cially under elevated temperatures of >200 °C for which the use of
which the current in the electric motors is reversed, slowing down pure Al alloys is usually avoided, and wear and fatigue resistance
the train. The physical braking with the pads and discs tends to over many cycles as required by city rail industrial norms.
operate only toward the end of a braking cycle after the speed of Three different types of braking cycles are designed to create
the train is significantly reduced, e.g. below 5 km/h. In this role, specific testing conditions to check these requirements of the brake
precisely stopping the train next to the platform is highly valued, disc in the city rail environment. The first are single-braking cycles
and the stability of the friction coefficient is essential to achieve in which the brake disc is cooled to about 50 °C before the subse-
this precision. While the role of physical brakes in a normal brak- quent braking. The majority of the brake testing cycles are single
ing cycle is small, their role is dominant when braking under harsh braking to determine the fatigue resistance of the brake disc. The
working environments such as emergency stops. In these circum- second type of braking cycle is double braking, during which the
stances, the wear and fatigue resistance of the brake to withstand first braking is the same as the single braking operation, but the
the high clamping and high temperature at high speeds of up to second braking commences two minutes after the first, regardless
120 km/h for many braking cycles is critical. of the disc temperature. These cycles can generate higher working
Consequently, the design of the testing cycles for assessing the temperatures to investigate their effects on the brake disc perfor-
performance of the hybrid AMMC brake disc to work under the city mance. The third type of cycle consists of a series of ten single-
rail environment aims to exhibit a stable friction coefficient that braking cycles at different braking speeds (i.e. instantaneous

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D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

Fig. 3. The full-scale dynamometer providing the relevant rail-braking environment.

Fig. 4. (a) the brake disc assembled with thermocouples, indicated by the red dots, and (b) the pairing organic brake pads, prior to the test. (For interpretation of the
references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

speeds at which the brake is applied). In the first of the series of ters, the working temperature is obtained as an average of those
cycles, the braking speed starts at 60 km/h and is then increased measured by three thermocouples positioned at 1 mm below the
in the next four braking cycles to 80 km/h, 100 km/h, 120 km/h contact surface of the brake disc, as shown in Fig. 4 (a).
and 135 km/h, and finally, the braking speed is reduced in the fol-
lowing five cycles from 135 km/h back to 60 km/h. A comparison of
the average friction coefficient between the two braking cycles of 2.4. Characterisation and mechanical testing
the 60 km/h braking speed gives an indication of the stability of
the friction coefficient after a total of 10 braking cycles. Samples for microstructural characterisation and mechanical
The parameters of the test cycles are selected according to the testing were cut from the AA6082 base alloy, the A357/SiC AMMC
rail industrial standard [27] that exceeds all the operational situa- input materials for the friction stir processing, and the as-
tions that a city rail vehicle can encounter during its working life fabricated hybrid composite brake disc, and the brake disc tested
span. They include a total of 1000 cycles that the brake disc needs over>1000 braking cycles. The samples from the as-fabricated
to survive, the braking speed between 60 km/h and 135 km/h, and brake disc were mainly used for the hardness and mechanical test-
two clamping forces at 43 kN and 23.5 kN. The clamping force is ing, and the post-test samples were only for microstructure char-
converted into a loading pressure between 290 and 540 kPa acterisation. They were either wire-cut or SiC blade-sectioned
(kPa) as brake pads paired with the hybrid brake disc in the test parallel to the A357/SiC AMMC layer top surface and at different
have total 400 cm2 contact area. Besides recording these parame- distances from the surface so that the cut samples are representa-
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D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

tive of the materials changes from the A357/SiC AMMC top layer to cients for > 1000 braking cycles for various braking set-ups, forces,
the AA6082 alloy base. and braking speeds were measured and plotted in Fig. 6 as a func-
Characterisation of microstructures from the A357/SiC AMMC tion of the instantaneous speed. The instantaneous speed spans the
layer to the alloy base was performed on the different samples range from the braking speeds of 60–135 km/h down to zero. The
sliced from the brake disc. The microstructures of these samples measured values of all the instantaneous friction coefficients for
were analysed using optical microscopy and a JSM-6510A scanning the whole duration of each cycle are between 0.3 and 0.4, which
electron microscope (SEM) equipped with a backscattered electron is within a required narrow band (e.g. between 0.28 and 0.44 at
(BSE) detector and an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDS). 135 km/h).
Measuring both HBW and HV is necessary for the hybrid com- In addition to the instantaneous friction coefficient for the
posite brake disc since there are vastly different coarse and fine whole duration of a single braking cycle, the differences in the
microstructures present in the hybrid brake disc. When measuring averaged friction coefficient between different cycles but at the
the Brinell hardness (HBW), a DahoMeter - HP3000 testing same braking speed is also an important performance measure that
machine was used in accordance with an industrial standard [29] is related to the stability of the friction coefficient. Fig. 7 displays
with a 2.5 mm diameter indenter and 62.5 kg test load, resulting these averaged friction coefficients for 10 single-braking cycles
in an indent diameter of about 1 mm. When measuring the Vickers under a maximum braking force of 43 kN at braking speeds in
hardness (HV), an HVS-10ZC/LCD testing machine was utilised the sequence of 60, 80, 100, 120, 135, 135, 120, 100, 80, and
with the indenter under a 300 g load, leaving the length of the 60 km/h. It confirms that the averaged coefficients of friction also
diagonal of between 60 and 80 mm. fall within a specified narrow band, i.e. between 0.31 and 0.40 at
Tensile properties were measured using an MST-CMT5504 ten- 135 km/h, which is, in fact, narrower than for the instantaneous
sile testing machine in accordance with the industrial standard friction coefficient. Furthermore, Fig. 7 shows the differences in
method [31]. Minimum three tensile samples were tested and the averaged friction coefficients between a pair of single-braking
the average of the test results is reported for each measurement. cycles that are at the same braking speed. It can be found that
the largest difference in the averaged friction coefficients is
between the No 1 and No 10 braking cycles – i.e. a reduction of
3. Results and discussion 5.9% from 0.387 and 0.364. This reduction is almost identical to
that for the cast-iron brake disc in a similar single-braking cycle
3.1. Wear performance under relevant environments [34], indicating the improved stability of the averaged friction coef-
ficient over the iron and steel brake discs.
This lightweight hybrid composite disc successfully passed Compared with the single-braking cycles, the stability of the
1000 braking cycles in multiple braking tests (Fig. 5). A visual friction coefficient in the double-braking cycles is particularly
inspection found that there was only negligible loss of the materi- important since they simulate the most challenging emergency
als from the contact surface of the A357/SiC AMMC top layer and stop, which demands the most friction. These cycles at the maxi-
no visible cracks in the contact surface that exceed the limits for mum clamping force of 43 kN and the braking speed of 135 km/
railworthiness. On the contact surfaces, several circular scratches h consist of the first braking, a pause of 2 min, and the second brak-
were present that were left by debris from brake pads at the start ing to decrease the instantaneous speed to zero from a braking
of the test. However, these scratches, as well as the small holes pre- speed of 135 km/h.
sent in the surface before testing, did not become larger and deeper Fig. 8 plots the instantaneous friction coefficient for the first
or develop into other defects after 1000 cycles, which is normally braking, which is identical to the standard single braking, and
the cause of total failure of the steel brake disc. the consecutive second braking in one of these double-braking
Besides minimal materials loss and freedom from cracking, emergency-stop cycles as a function of the instantaneous speed.
another key performance indicator that is critical for the city train It shows the difference between these two was negligible while
operation is, as discussed previously, that the absolute values of the disc speed is reduced from the braking speed of 135 km/h to
the instantaneous friction coefficient fall within a desirable range the instantaneous speed of 100 km/h. Then the coefficient for the
for the duration of a braking cycle. Instantaneous friction coeffi- second braking became lower than that for the first braking when
the instantaneous speed falls below 100 km/h. This reduction
increases to a maximum of about 0.025 (10%) when the instanta-
neous speed is further decreased to 30 km/h or less. It shows that
the friction coefficient during the second braking is reduced to
about 0.3, still well above the lower limit of 0.28 specified for
ensuring the stability of the friction coefficient.
This ability of the Al-based composite brake disc to maintain a
sufficient and stable friction coefficient is significant since the
highest working temperatures are likely to be reached in the
double-braking cycles. The standard Al alloy would not withstand
the high temperatures expected in the relevant environment tests.
Measurements of the working temperatures of the hybrid brake
disc in one double-braking cycle are shown in Fig. 9. The measured
temperature of the disc in the first braking was below 50 °C when
the braking was applied at 130 km/h, subsequently climbing to
150 °C as the instantaneous speed decreased to 100 km/h, and then
reached a maximum of 200–210 °C when the instantaneous speed
was reduced to 30 km/h and below. In comparison, the tempera-
ture of the disc in the second braking started at 80–90 °C, increased
to > 170 °C at 100 km/h, and reached a maximum of 230–240 °C
when the instantaneous speed fell to 30 km/h and below. The
Fig. 5. The hybrid composite brake disc assembled with thermocouples after tests. observed decrease of the coefficient of friction in the second brak-
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D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

Fig. 6. instantaneous friction coefficients for all the cycles at various speeds and forces.

Fig. 7. Averaged friction coefficients of 10 single-braking cycles under a maximum braking force of 43 kN and at braking speeds from 60 km/h to 135 km/h for Cycle 1 to 5 and
135 km/h to 60 km/h for Cycle 6 to 10.

ing at instantaneous speeds of 100 km/h or less (Fig. 8) is accom- critical when considering that the pure A357 alloy is typically only
panied by an increase of the disc temperature to > 170 °C. The max- deployed mechanically at less than 170–200 °C, i.e. below its arti-
imum decrease of the coefficient of the friction was  0.025 (less ficial ageing temperatures [35].
than10%) in the second braking when the instantaneous speed slo- The compliance of the values of both the instantaneous and
wed down to 30 km/h or less (Fig. 8), coinciding with the highest averaged coefficients of frictions with their respective specified
disc temperature of  240 °C that was reached at the same instan- bands, the negligible wear loss observed, and the maintenance of
taneous speeds. a sufficiently high friction coefficient under all the relevant testing
This dependence of the friction coefficient on the disc tempera- environments demonstrate that the hybrid Al matrix composite
ture shows the potentially detrimental effects of high working brake disc can provide reliable performance with good wear and
temperature on the braking power of the AMMC hybrid brake disc fatigue resistance, as is required to replace iron and steel brake
if the coefficient reduction is excessive. The ability of the AMMC discs.
materials to limit the reduction of the friction coefficient to less Several aspects of this significant, and perhaps unexpected,
than 10% over the range 170–240 °C is crucial for the hybrid com- improvement of the wear resistance performance by the hybrid
posite brake discs to operate at the elevated temperatures of the AMMC composite brake discs against wear loss, crack initiation
rail-braking environment. This demonstration of the A357/SiC and propagation at elevated working temperature are examined
AMMC top layer to withstand high temperatures up to 240 °C is in the following sections. The examination will cover not only

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D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

0.5

Instantaneous coefficient of fricon

0.45
First braking Second braking

0.4

0.35

0.3

0.25

0.2
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Instantaneous speed, km/h

Fig. 8. Measured instantaneous friction coefficient in a double-braking cycle.

310
290
270
First braking Second braking
250
230
Temperature, oC

210
190
170
150
130
110
90
70
50
30
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Instantaneous speed, km/h

Fig. 9. Measured working temperatures in the double-braking cycle.

the contact surface, microstructures and mechanical properties of Fig. 10 (a) is an SEM image of the contact surface area with
the AMMC layers but also thermal properties and the hybrid design grooves. It confirms there are no radial and segmentation cracks
of the composite brake disc as a whole. of macro-scale penetrating deeply into the brake disc, such as
those typical of the thermal damage to steel and iron discs [36].
A closer examination of this region in Fig. 11 reveals that there is
delamination of surface skins by micro-scale cracking within the
3.2. Contact surfaces resistant against scratching
grooves. These cracks were likely caused by loose hard particles
or debris embedded in the surface of the brake disc. A 3D surface
As shown previously (Fig. 5), the contact surfaces of the A357/
topography analysis was carried out on one of the grooves; the
SiC AMMC hybrid disc are free of visible thermal damage, such
result of the analysis is presented in Fig. 10 (b). It is found that
as hot spots, segmentation cracks and radial cracks of millimetre
the width of the groove is 100 mm, and the depth of the groove is
size, which is a common failure mode for iron and steel brake discs
about 8–10 mm.
[36]. While a few scratches and grooves are present on the contact
These micro-scale cracks remained at the micrometre level after
surface, they did not expand into major cracks or other thermal
the full-scale rail-braking tests of 1000 cycles and are well below
damage defects after 1000 braking cycles. The focus of this section
millimetre sizes that are common crack sizes in steel brake discs.
is to establish the micro-scale characteristics of the surface to
In addition, the number of the groves and scratches did not
explore their role in preventing the grooves and scratches from
increase, implying there were no additional debris and loose parti-
developing into major cracks during the thousands of the braking
cles of significant size broken off from the contact surface. This is
cycles.
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D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

15

Height/µm
10

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Length/µm

(a) (b)
Fig. 10. (a) An SEM micrograph of the contact surface of the hybrid brake disc after 1000 braking cycles, and (b) the 3D surface topography and the depth plot of the groove in
the surface.

Fig. 11. SEM micrographs (500X) of the top view (left) and the side view (right) of the grooves in the contact surface of the hybrid brake disc after > 1000 braking cycles.

consistent with the earlier finding that material loss during the However, there is a discrepancy between reports in the litera-
braking tests was minimal. ture and the current study’s findings on the working temperature
A series of EDS mappings of this area performed at 15 kV are at which the TBFs can improve the friction and wear behaviour
displayed in Fig. 12. The EDS analysis did not detect the presence of the AMMC brake discs. It was reported that the TBFs became
of C, implying that SiC particles are absent on the contact surfaces irreversibly damaged at > 200 °C, and the friction coefficient was
to the depth of electron beam penetration, i.e. less than 2 mm. How- reduced to less than 0.3 in a few minutes. The cause of this degra-
ever, a number of other elements, such as K, C, Fe, O, Ca and other dation of the TBFs was suggested to be the massive formation at
metals that are the common ingredients for a synthetic brake pad, higher temperatures of hard mechanically mixed particles (MMPs)
were found [37]. So, it is reasoned that particles containing these that continuously scratched the TBFs [38]. But the full-scale brak-
elements are worn off from the brake pad and transferred onto ing tests in this study (Fig. 9) demonstrated that the hybrid AMMC
the contact surface of the brake disc during the tests, forming a brake disc could maintain a friction coefficient of up to 0.37 at a
film on the contact surfaces at high temperatures and braking temperature up to 240 °C in >1000 braking cycles over a two-
forces. week period. This indicates that either the hard MMPs are not
The formation of such a film of 3–5 mm thickness was reported formed, or they do not continuously damage the TBFs.
[38] as so-called third body films (TBFs) from studying the friction Assuming that the formation of the hard MMPs would be
and wear behaviour of a A357/SiC AMMC material that is almost accompanied by increasing scratches and grooves at
identical to the current A357/SiC AMMC material but produced temperatures > 200 °C, the focus for investigating the absence of
by traditional stirring casting method. The presence of the TBFs the MMPs in this study becomes an examination of an apparent
is considered to prevent direct contact between the disc and pad lack of supply of the debris materials that fuel the formation of
during braking cycles, minimising crack initiation and debris gen- the MMPs. Since the debris is generated by the delamination of
eration. As a result, the existence of these protective TBFs can limit SiC particles, secondary particles and Al phase materials from the
the formation and severity of the surface grooves, reduce damage contact surfaces of the AMMC brake disc, the characteristics of
to the AMMC layer, minimise wear loss, and stabilise the friction microstructures in the AMMC top layer would play an important
coefficient [38–42], significantly improving the wear performance role in resisting the delamination of the materials from the brake
of the AMMC brake discs. disc surface. Comparing the microstructural features of the AMMC

9
D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

Fig. 12. SEM images and EDS mappings (500X) of the grooves in the contact surface shown in Fig. 11: the top view (a) and the side view (b).

materials produced by friction stir processing with the reported zones of different microstructures across a section of the brake
microstructures consisting of the similar SiC particles and A357 disc. Fig. 13 provides SEM micrographs taken on the vertical sec-
materials produced by a different processing technology (i.e. stir tion of the layered hybrid brake disk, showing the transition from
casting) would reveal the uniqueness of the microstructures in the friction-stirred A357/SiC AMMC layer at the top to the non-
the hybrid composite brake discs, particularly in the AMMC top stirred Al alloy at the bottom. Fig. 13 (a) shows microstructures
layer, that contribute to the minimised formation of hard MMPs. of the first zone, which is within the AMMC top layer that extends
to a depth of 2–3 mm from the contact surface of the brake. Fig. 13
3.3. Microstructures (b) reveals two more different zones of microstructures on the
opposite side of the interface between the A357/SiC AMMC layer
The combination of deploying two materials and friction- and the Al base alloy. One of them is a zone of thickness 0.5–
stirring selected parts of the brake disc in manufacturing the 1 mm or less at the side of the AMMC top layer, and the other is
hybrid AMMC composite brake disc leads to the formation of four a zone of thickness about 1 mm or less on the Al alloy. Both are sev-
10
D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

images of the particle elemental distributions in the top A357/SiC

AMMC layer, which allow investigation of the distribution of the
added SiC and secondary particles, are shown in Fig. 14. They con-
firm that, based on the Al, Si and C mappings, the primary presence
in the top AMMC layer is the faceted SiC particles, which are uni-
formly distributed in the Al alloy matrix, free of SiC segregation
and clustering. As a result of this uniform distribution, the linear
intercept length between the added SiC particles (i.e. interparticle
spacing) is in the relatively narrow range of 10–15 mm.
Between these added SiC particles in the zone in the AMMC top
layer, Fe-, Mg- and O-bearing secondary intermetallic particles are
detected by the EDS mappings of Fe, Mg and O in Fig. 14. These sec-
ondary particles would include intermetallic and oxide particles,
e.g. Mg2Si, Al9Fe2Si2, Al2O3, MgO, MgAl2O4, and SiO2, which have
been investigated extensively in the past for the A357 Al alloy
[42]. Fig. 15 comprises SEM and EDS images taken from the same
area as Fig. 14 in the AMMC top layer of a tested hybrid composite
brake disc, but at a much higher magnification, allowing detailed
observation of the small particles between the large SiC particles.
Comparing the EDS mappings of C and Si allows the small SiC par-
ticles to be distinguished from the Si particles. The Si particles
appear brighter in the EDS mapping of Si (Fig. 15) but are absent
in the EDS mapping of C (Fig. 14). Fig. 15 shows that these sec-
ondary Si particles and the small SiC particles between the larger
SiC particles are re-distributed uniformly in the Al alloy matrix of
the friction-stirred A357/SiC AMMC layers. They are small in size,
e.g. a few micrometres or less, some have been modified into
nearly spherical shapes, and the interparticle spacing is 5 mm or
less.
When compared with other A357/SiC AMMC microstructures in
the literature produced by liquid-state stir casting methods, the
unique feature of the A357/SiC microstructures formed by solid-
state friction stirring in this study is the uniform distribution of
both added SiC particles and small particles, leading to an interpar-
ticle spacing of less than 5 mm. The smaller interparticle spacing is
equivalent to the significant refinement of the Al phase that is typ-
ically achieved by near-rapid solidification at a high cooling rate of
a few hundred degrees per second [43]. In contrast, the interparti-
cle spacing in the A357/SiC AMMC that is cast at a low cooling rate
can be up to > 100 mm as reported in Fig. 1 by [38], since the added
SiC particles and small secondary particles between them are seg-
regated into clusters around coarse Al dendrites. This coarse Al
phase has been found to be the cause of crack initiation in the con-
tact surface of the AMMC brake disc, and the propagation of these
cracks along the Al phase has been shown to delaminate materials
from the disc surface, increasing wear loss [7]. Therefore, the low
wear loss from the AMMC top layer of the hybrid composite disc
indicates reduced delamination of the contact surface materials,
which is a consequence of the refinement of the Al phase down
to less than 5 mm by the uniform distribution of the added SiC par-
ticles and small secondary particles. Without the supply of debris
from the contact surface delamination, the formation of hard
MMPs is minimised, including at temperatures > 200 °C, at which
Fig. 13. SEM micrographs showing the transformation of microstructures in the MMPs are massively generated in coarse-Al AMMC composite
brake disc: (a) the top AMMC layer, (b) the regions near the interface between the
AMMC and friction-stirred Al alloy, and (c) the Al alloy base, which is not friction-
brake discs.
stirred. Fig. 13 (b) exhibit two zones of different microstructures at the
opposite sides of the interface, including the second zone within
the AMMC layer. The presences of the added SiC and secondary
erally deformed by the friction stir processing. The microstructure small particles in this zone are analysed by EDS mappings in
of the fourth zone (Fig. 13 (c)) is of the as-received Al alloy base Fig. 16. The morphologies and distribution of these added SiC par-
that is not friction-stirred when the hybrid composite brake disc ticles are similar to those in the first zone of the AMMC layer. How-
is fabricated. ever, the average distance between the SiC particles increased
One of the twin zones within the AMMC layer is shown in significantly from 10 to 15 mm to 20–100 mm, as indicated in
Fig. 13 (a), which is underneath the brake contact surfaces, thus Fig. 13 (b). Fig. 13 (b) and Fig. 16 also indicate that the secondary
directly withstanding braking force and wear. Its surface is where particles between the added SiC particles in this zone also undergo
the TBFs and MMPs are formed during the braking tests. EDS a similar microstructural transition. While these small particles,
11
D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

Fig. 14. EDS mapping of the top AMMC layer of the hybrid brake disc.

Fig. 15. SEM image and EDS mapping of the top AMMC layer of the hybrid brake disc showing the secondary phases between the larger SiC particles.

mainly Si, often remain at sub-micrometre size and their distribu- presents EDS images of these secondary particles showing the
tion is uniform, the interparticle spacing between them increases presence of Si, Mg, Mn and Fe. This analysis is consistent with
from less than 5 mm to>10 mm. the reports in the literature [44] that these elements can partici-
This increase of the interparticle space represents a decrease of pate in forming a wide variety of secondary intermetallic phases
the fraction of SiC and secondary particles, e.g. Si, which is evi- based on Al-Fe, Al-Fe-Si and Al-Fe-Mn-Si in the 6000 series Al
dence that the friction stirring tool created mass flow of the alloys, such as Al5FeSi, Al15(FeMn)3Si, Al9Mn3Si, Al12Fe3Si, and Mg2-
AA6082 Al alloy across the interface into the A357/SiC AMMC Si. However, it is not immediately clear why Si, C and O co-exist in
layer. Consequently, this mass flow creates a gradient fraction of a few spots in the mapping. One possible explanation is that the SiC
the added SiC particles and secondary particles such as Si within and SiO2 particles from cutting blades or polishing pads were
the AMMC top layer. The fraction of the SiC and Si particles is embedded in the sample surfaces when the sample was prepared.
the highest in the regions close to the brake contact surface, then In the friction-stirred zone close to the interface at the side of
is diluted by at least 50% in the zone close to the interface on the the AA6082 Al alloy, as shown in Fig. 13 (b), the secondary inter-
side of the AMMC layer, and down to zero at the interface. metallic particles are small in size, spherical in morphology, and
There are also two microstructural zones on the other side of present along the boundaries of the Al grains that have an equiaxed
the interface within the AA6082 Al alloy base. One of them is morphology and a diameter of 50–100 mm. In contrast, these small
located close to the interface, as shown in Fig. 13 (b), and secondary particles in the non-stirred Al alloy away from the inter-
friction-stirred when the hybrid composite brake disc is fabricated. face amalgamate, forming larger clusters of length 50–100 mm
Fig. 16 confirms that SiC particles and Si secondary particles are length or greater, have non-spherical morphologies, and exist
absent in this zone. Instead, different secondary particles formed along the grain boundaries of much larger Al grains of > 100–200
as part of the AA6082 alloy that was used as the disc base. These mm in diameter, as shown in Fig. 13 (c). These microstructural dif-
secondary particles are more predominant in the other microstruc- ferences between the friction-stirred and non-stirred zones within
tural zone in the AA6082 alloy base, as shown in Fig. 13 (c). Fig. 17 the AA6082 Al alloy base demonstrate the ability of the friction stir

12
D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

Fig. 16. EDS mapping of the AMMC and the friction-stirred Al alloy close to the interface.

Fig. 17. EDS mapping of the alloy base of the hybrid composite brake disc.

processing to refine the primary Al phase and secondary particles. microstructures are critical to enhancing the properties of the
In this study, the friction stir processing, in fact, creates another AMMC materials.
gradient microstructure, in terms of primary Al phase size, sec- The characterisation and analysis also revealed that the combi-
ondary particles sizes and morphologies, within the AA6082 Al nation of friction-stir processing and using two different materials
alloy base. in manufacturing the hybrid composite disc could generate a
The results of the SEM characterisation and EDS analysis con- graded presence of the SiC particles from the top of the AMMC
firm that friction stir processing can effectively break up the segre- layer to the interface to the Al alloy base, and of the small sec-
gation of the added SiC particles and clusters of these secondary ondary particles continuing further to the bottom of the disc base.
particles in A357/SiC metal matrix composites, refine interparticle This graded microstructure introduces a gradual transition from
spacing from 50 to 100 mm down to less than 5 mm, and give the the AMMC layer to the Al alloy base across their interface, instead
secondary particles a more spherical morphology. The EDS analysis of a sudden change that tends to initiate cracking due to a mis-
also verifies the advantage of the solid-state friction stirring pro- match in thermal expansions of different materials. It is consistent
cess over the conventional liquid-state stir casting to avoid oxida- with the observation that no such thermal cracking or delamina-
tion contamination from melt at high temperatures when tion was detected at the interface between the AMMC layer and
producing A357/SiC AMMCs. These improvements of the the AA6082 alloy base, which was one of the essential require-

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D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

ments for validating the functionality of the layered hybrid design between the A357/SiC AMMC and AA6082 Al alloy, (3) the transi-
of the A357/SiC AMMC brake disc. More importantly, the graded tion region from the interface to the AA6082 that was friction-
microstructures can provide different functional and mechanical stirred, and (4) the AA6082 Al alloy base that is non-stirred. The
properties across the section of the hybrid composite brake disc HV measurement has a diagonal length of 60–80 mm that is larger
that can be used to optimise the properties and performance of than the interparticle spacing in the zones (1) and (2) (i.e. 5–
the brake disc. 15 mm), comparable in zone (3) (50–100 mm) and less than the
interparticle spacing in zone (4) (>100–200 mm). Therefore, the
3.4. Gradient mechanical properties HV hardness is a more accurate representation of the hardness of
the microstructures in regions (1) and (2) and the hardness of
Traditionally, the mechanical properties of strength, elongation the Al phase in regions (3) and (4). The indent size in the HBW
and hardness are used for evaluating the resistance of iron and measurement is around 1 mm, which is the same or larger than
steel brake disc materials to wear and damages. These properties the total thickness of regions (3) and (4) (0.5–1 mm). So, the
effectively evaluate the failure mechanisms of iron and steel brake HBW measurement is more reliable in regions (1) and (4) as their
discs that mainly centre around the development of radial cracks in thickness is much greater than the indent size.
the contact surface [36]. However, as radial cracks are not observed The hardness of the microstructures in the AMMC top layer is
in this study, the failure mechanism for the iron and steel brake the highest, about 133 HV and 100 HBW, where the SiC particles
discs is not considered applicable for the AMMC brake discs. The are the most concentrated. It then decreases to 125 HV toward
literature [7] suggests that the failure in the AMMC brake discs the interface, apparently in response to the reduced amount of
starts with the initiation and propagation of the cracks in the Al SiC particles. In the friction-stirred AA6082 alloy region close to
phase parallel to and underneath the surface, followed by the the interface but free of Si particles, the hardness was measured
delamination of a layer of the AMMC materials from the brake con- as 106 HV, which indicates a continuous decrease of the hardness
tact surface. Therefore, the correlation between the mechanical in the Al phase. While the accuracy of the HBW measurement of
properties and the performance of iron or steel brake discs may 72–73 HBW is less certain in the regions around the interface, they
well not be applicable for the AMMC brake discs. did imply a reduction in the hardness of the microstructure similar
As a result, the determination of the mechanical properties and to that in the Al phase. In the AA6082 alloy base, in which coarse Al
hardness for the current A357/SiC hybrid composite brake discs, grains of > 100–200 mm are not refined by the friction stirring, the
which have passed the full-scale tests, becomes very useful for hardness is measured as 85 HV and 100 HBW, suggesting that the
indicating the mechanical properties of the AMMC brake discs that hardness of the Al phase decreases further in region (4), but the
are acceptable for working under the rail-braking conditions. In hardness of the microstructures, indicated by the HBW measure-
addition, as the current hybrid composite brake discs contain ment, recovers from the lowest levels in regions (2) and (3) near
two materials with four different microstructures, the mechanical the interface.
properties of these microstructures will differ. So, it is of great Similarly, Fig. 19 displays collectively ultimate tensile strength
interest to explore the combined effects of these different (UTS), yield strength (YS) and elongation (e%) measured at room
microstructures and their properties on the performance of the temperature on samples cut from each of the four regions in the
A357/SiC hybrid composite brake disc. A357/SiC hybrid composite brake disc (Table 3). The measured ten-
Fig. 18 shows measured Vickers hardness (HV) and Brinell hard- sile strengths of the A357/SiC AMMC layer are 260 MPa (UTS) and
ness (HBW) hardness (Table 2) in four regions of the different 230 MPa (YS) that are respectively 10–15% and 30% improvements
microstructures – i.e. the (1) friction-stirred A357/SiC AMMC top over the A357 alloy. These measurements are higher than 220–
layer, (2) the transition region from the AMMC to the interface 225 MPa (UTS) and 180–200 MPa (YS) measured in the AMMC

Fig. 18. Measured Vickers hardness (HV) and Brinell hardness (HBW) in four different regions in the brake disc.

14
D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

Table 2
Vickers hardness (HV) and Brinell hardness (HBW) measured on the samples cut from four different regions in the brake disc.

Top AMMC AMMC-Interface Interface-Al alloy Bottom Al alloy

HV 133 ± 8 125 ± 1 106 ± 4 85 ± 3
HBW 107 ± 7 71 ± 2 74 ± 2 105 ± 7

450 14

400
12
UTS YS Elongaon
350
10
Tensile strength, MPa

300

Elongaon, %
250 8

200 6

150
4
100

2
50

0 0
AMMC top layer AMMC to interface Interface to Al alloy Al alloy boom base
transion transion

Fig. 19. Measured tensile properties of different microstructures in four zones in the brake disc.

Table 3
Measured ultimate tensile strength (UTS), 0.2% offset yield strength (YS) and elongation (E) of different microstructures in four zones in the brake disc.

Top AMMC AMMC-Interface Interface-Al alloy Bottom Al alloy

UTS (MPa) 250 ± 3 226 ± 1 219 ± 1 327 ± 39
YS (MPa) 243 ± 16 208 ± 4 182 ± 3 307 ± 20
E (%) 1.3 ± 0.4 3.3 ± 0.4 12 ± 1 7±1

layer and the friction-stirred AA6082 alloy layers near the inter- the distribution of the hardness and strengths across the thickness
face. But they are lower than 320 MPa (UTS) and 300 MPa (YS) of the A357/SiC AMMC hybrid brake disc is graded. As shown in
measured in the non-stirred AA6082 alloy base. Fig. 18 and Fig. 19, they are lower inside the disc and higher at
Although the SiC particle is one of the hardest materials, the the top and bottom of the disc. These graded distributions are cor-
measured Brinell hardness of the AMMC layer in the A357/SiC related inversely to a graded distribution of elongation that is also
AMMC brake disc is only 30–50% of that of iron and steel brake plotted in Fig. 19. It shows that the measured elongation of the
discs. Also, these measured tensile strengths are at least 50% lower AMMC layer at the top of the disc is low at 1% or less and increases
than those of iron and steel brake discs. slightly to 3.5% in the region near the interface. On the other side of
Although its tensile properties and hardness are lower than the interface, the measure elongation reaches a maximum, at>12%
those of iron and steel brake discs, the A357/SiC hybrid composite in the friction-stirred 6081 alloy layer, and then decreases to 7% in
brake disc still demonstrates superior wear resistance, withstand- the non-stirred AA6082 alloy base at the bottom of the disc.
ing the wear and clamping force in the full-scale rail-braking The graded distribution of hardness and tensile properties are
dynamometer tests at a braking speed of 135 km/h and a clamping directly related to the graded microstructures, as discussed previ-
force of 43 kN. This implies that, due to the failure mechanism of ously (Fig. 13). The highest amount of SiC particles enhances the
the AMMC brake disc that focuses on initiation and growth of hardness and tensile strength at the top of the brake disc, and
cracks in the Al phase which is different from that of iron and steel the precipitation in the AA6082 alloy is responsible for hardening
brake discs, this set of measured hardness and strengths of 70–100 and strengthening the brake disc at the bottom. Between the top
HBW, 220–320 MPa UTS, and 180–300 MPa YS are adequate for the and bottom of the brake disc, the presence of the friction-stirred
A357/SiC hybrid composite brake disc under the city rail working AA6082 region that is free of SiC particles is the most ductile but
environment. softer and less strong as a result of the refinement of the primary
Furthermore, unlike the iron and steel brake discs as well as Al grains and the secondary particles as well as the in-situ anneal-
other whole-body AMMC brake discs produced by stir-casting pro- ing induced by the elevated operation temperature of the friction-
cessing, which have identical properties across the disc thickness, stir processing.

15
D. Tan, S. Xia, A. Yob et al. Materials & Design 215 (2022) 110504

It is considered that the graded hardness and tensile properties After demonstrating the capability of the hybrid composite
contribute to improve the performance of the hybrid composite brake discs to work at elevated temperatures of 200–250 0C in this
brake disc. The maximisation of hardness and strength of the study, one of future explorations to further improve the perfor-
AMMC layer at the top contact surface of a brake disc is ideal as mance of the brake discs could focus on further increasing of the
they are responsible for resisting the friction force. Meanwhile, operational temperature from 250 0C to  350 0C or above, which
achieving the highest elongation underneath the AMMC top layer is more relevant to the working environments of either high-speed
in the friction-stirred AA6082 alloy zone will assist in inhibiting passenger trains or heavy-haul freight rails. While the materials
the crack initiation in the AMMC top layer as it cushions the force development for upgrading strength and fatigue resistance of the
applied on the AMMC layer. Below the high-elongation zone, brake discs will continue, it is expected that a greater emphasis
which is easily formable, the high strength of the AA6082 alloy is to be placed on enhancing of thermal management of the brake
in the brake base maintains the stiffness of the whole disc body. disc for maximising heat transfer and dissipation through the com-
posite body of the hybrid brake disc, which could involve increas-
ing thermal conductivity of the brake disc materials as well as
4. Conclusions
optmitising the geometry design of the brake disc.
Hybrid composite brake discs, consisting of a A357/SiC metal
matrix composite top layer and an AA6082 Al alloy base, were fab- Declaration of Competing Interest
ricated by friction-stir processing and evaluated in full-scale
dynamometer braking tests. These brake discs successfully The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
passed>1000 braking test cycles under the environment relevant cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
for operating a city rail vehicle. The findings from the characterisa- to influence the work reported in this paper.
tion, testing and analysis of the tested brake disc are the following:

 The A357/SiC hybrid composite brake disc demonstrates Acknowledgement

advanced wear and friction capabilities in terms of providing
a stable friction coefficient within a range of 0.28–0.44, with- This work was supported by Rail Manufacturing CRC, CRRC Qishu-
standing the high working temperature of up to 240 °C, pre- yan Institute and CSIRO.
venting the formation of cracks that delaminate the contact The raw/processed data required to reproduce these findings
surfaces, and maintaining the integrity and stability of the cannot be shared at this time due to legal or ethical reasons
hybrid structure.
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