+86-13363216781
Views: 29 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-12-16 Origin: Site
As a key component in automotive transmission systems, clutch plates' performance directly impacts a vehicle's power transmission efficiency, shifting smoothness, and service life. As the automotive industry continues to evolve towards higher power, lighter weight, and longer life, traditional friction materials are no longer able to meet these increasingly stringent demands. In recent years, new friction materials, such as carbon fiber composites, ceramic-based composites, and metal-based composites, have emerged, bringing revolutionary breakthroughs in clutch plate performance. This article will delve into the specific impacts of these new friction materials on various clutch plate properties.
Carbon fiber composites use carbon fibers as reinforcement and a resin, metal, or ceramic matrix. They possess high strength, high modulus, and low density. Their density is only about one-quarter that of steel, yet their strength can reach several times that of steel. Furthermore, carbon fiber composites exhibit excellent high-temperature resistance, maintaining excellent mechanical properties even in high-temperature environments.
Ceramic-based composites primarily consist of a ceramic matrix and reinforcing fibers. Ceramic materials inherently possess high-temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, and high hardness, while the addition of reinforcing fibers effectively mitigates the brittleness of ceramics. This material maintains stable friction properties at high temperatures and exhibits a low wear rate.
Metal-Matrix Composites use a metal matrix with ceramic particles and fibers as reinforcements. They combine the toughness of metal with the wear resistance and high-temperature resistance of ceramics, offering high thermal conductivity and load-bearing capacity, making them suitable for use under heavy-load, high-temperature conditions.
The friction coefficient is one of the most critical performance indicators of a clutch plate, and its stability directly impacts the smoothness of power transmission. The friction coefficient of traditional friction materials is significantly affected by factors such as temperature and pressure. Under high temperatures or high pressures, significant fluctuations can occur, leading to problems such as shifting jerks and poor power transmission.
New friction materials excel in this regard. For example, carbon fiber composites, due to their stable chemical structure and physical properties, exhibit minimal fluctuations in friction coefficient over a wide temperature range (-50°C to 300°C), typically within ±5%. Due to the high-temperature resistance of the ceramic phase, ceramic-based composites clutch plate exhibit significantly lower friction coefficient decay than traditional materials in high-temperature environments. Even at 400°C, the friction coefficient can maintain over 90% of its initial value. Metal-based composites, by rationally designing the content and distribution of the reinforcing phase, significantly reduce the magnitude of friction coefficient fluctuations with pressure, ensuring stable power transmission.
Wear resistance determines the service life of clutch plates and is a key indicator of their economic viability. Traditional friction materials are prone to rapid wear over long periods of use due to the high temperatures and mechanical wear generated by friction. This is particularly true under heavy loads and frequent gear shifting, resulting in a shorter service life.
The application of new friction materials has significantly improved the wear resistance of clutch plates. The carbon fibers in carbon fiber composites possess extremely high wear resistance, with a wear rate of only 1/3-1/5 that of traditional organic friction materials. The ceramic phase in ceramic-based composites has high hardness and strong wear resistance, resulting in a service life 2-3 times that of traditional materials under the same operating conditions. The reinforcing phase in metal-matrix composites effectively resists plowing and adhesive wear during friction, enabling clutch plates to maintain a low wear rate even under heavy loads, significantly extending replacement cycles.
During operation, clutch plates generate significant heat due to friction, reaching temperatures as high as hundreds of degrees Celsius. Traditional friction materials are prone to thermal decomposition and carbonization at high temperatures, leading to a sharp decline in performance and even serious problems such as burnout and failure.
New friction materials exhibit excellent high-temperature resistance. Carbon fiber composites maintain excellent mechanical and frictional properties at temperatures exceeding 300°C without significant thermal degradation. Ceramic-matrix composites clutch disc offer even more outstanding high-temperature resistance, operating stably at temperatures exceeding 600°C, effectively addressing the high-temperature challenges of extreme operating conditions. Due to the excellent thermal conductivity of the metal matrix, metal-matrix composites quickly dissipate frictional heat, preventing localized overheating. Furthermore, their structural stability at high temperatures ensures reliable operation of clutch plates in these environments.
Lightweighting vehicles is an important way to reduce energy consumption and improve power performance. Lightening clutch plateshelps reduce transmission inertia and improve shift response speed.
Traditional clutch plates are often made of heavier materials such as cast iron, resulting in a high weight. New friction materials, such as carbon fiber composites and ceramic-based composites, have a much lower density than traditional materials, and clutch plates made with these materials can reduce weight by 30%-50%. For example, after adopting a carbon fiber composite clutch plate on a certain model, its weight was reduced from 2.5kg to 1.2kg, not only reducing the overall weight of the vehicle but also improving shift response speed by approximately 15%.
NVH (noise, vibration, and harshness) performance is an important indicator of vehicle comfort, and clutch plate performance has a certain impact on the vehicle's NVH performance. Traditional friction materials tend to generate high noise and vibration during friction, affecting driving comfort.
New friction materials have certain advantages in improving NVH performance. Carbon fiber composites and ceramic-based composites offer excellent vibration and vibration reduction properties, generating minimal noise and vibration during friction. Metal-based composites can also effectively reduce friction noise by properly designing the distribution and content of the reinforcing phase. Clutch plates using new friction materials can reduce vehicle noise during gear shifting by 5-10 decibels, significantly improving driving comfort.
With the continuous development of the automotive industry, performance requirements for clutch plates will continue to rise, and the application prospects of new friction materials in clutch plates are promising.
In new energy vehicles, the torque output characteristics of electric motors differ from those of traditional internal combustion engines, placing higher demands on clutch plates for wear resistance, high temperature resistance, and responsiveness. New friction materials can effectively meet these requirements. In commercial vehicles, heavy loads and long-distance driving place high demands on the service life and reliability of clutch plates. The application of metal-based composites and ceramic-based composites will help improve the performance of commercial vehicle clutch plates. In high-performance sports cars, the lightweight and high wear resistance of carbon fiber composites make them an ideal material for clutch plates, enhancing vehicle power and handling.
At the same time, with the continuous advancement of materials technology, the cost of new friction materials is gradually decreasing, further promoting their widespread application in clutch plate production. In the future, through the continuous research and development and optimization of new friction materials, it is expected that clutch plates with even higher performance and lower costs will be developed, making greater contributions to the development of the automotive industry.
The emergence of new friction materials has brought about a qualitative leap in the performance of clutch plates. Whether in terms of friction coefficient stability, wear resistance, high temperature resistance, lightweighting, or NVH performance, these new friction materials have demonstrated significant advantages. With the continued development of the automotive industry and the continuous advancement of materials technology, the application of new friction materials in clutch plates will become increasingly widespread, undoubtedly driving clutch plates towards greater efficiency, reliability, and cost-effectiveness, laying a solid foundation for improving overall vehicle performance.If you are looking for high-performance new material clutch plate,welcome visit our website:https://www.evfriction.com.Please contact us by jessicabrakes12@gmail.com or +86-13363216781 if you have any questions.
