On your Drag brake kits made by companies like Wilwood, Strange, Aerospeace etc, does anyone knwo what grade of steel is used???
Thanks
AL...
Disc Rotor Material?
Moderator: Team
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Cobra
Brake rotors are commonly made of cast iron, with some racing rotors made of aluminum, carbon, or ceramic. All brake assembly components must be chosen to work together. SAE J431 covers general brake material specifications. SAE specifications are further defined as G3000, G3500, etc.---, with G3000 having 30,000 PSI tensile strength and 187-241 BHN, with higher numbers having higher tensile strength and higher hardness levels. Materials are chosen with respect to vehicle type, weight, and use. The companies you mention use a variety of rotor materials, specific to application.
Cast iron is the most common material for cars. I've ordered customs from Coleman Machine at very reasonable prices; they also sell raw or semifinished blanks if you want to do your own.
Most motorcycles use stainless steel for cosmetic reasons. One aftermarket source I know of was using laser-cut 321 stainless plate.
There was a bunch of work on metal-matrix aluminum composite rotors in the '90s, and it looked like Ford was going to OEM them for a while, but they decided to go with iron at the last minute. I've read that Porsche has used/is using them on some of their sporty models, but I don't know anything more.
Plain old 6061 aluminum plate is popular for Formula SAE race cars. They're very specialized and the rotors don't have to last long. There are some special pad materials available for this application.
Back in the '70s Hunt made some plasma-sprayed aluminum rotors for motorcycles. From anecdotal reports they worked okay until pressed very hard, and then the sprayed-on iron would pull off. Which is reasonable, considering brake temps can easily exceed the melting point of aluminum...
There have been various "composite" rotors. This usually means a stamped steel bowl for the hub, with a cast-on iron flange. Yamaha made something like that for motorcycles, except it used iron sheets brazed to a stamped steel core that was cut away for ventilation.
Beryllium was used briefly, and as far as I know has been outlawed by every major sanctioning body, with either "expense" or "beryllium dust poisoning" cited for reasons.
Carbon/carbon rotors have been used in some venues for close to 20 years now. Prices have come down a bit, and there are some new pad materials that work when less than smoking hot. "If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it."
Most motorcycles use stainless steel for cosmetic reasons. One aftermarket source I know of was using laser-cut 321 stainless plate.
There was a bunch of work on metal-matrix aluminum composite rotors in the '90s, and it looked like Ford was going to OEM them for a while, but they decided to go with iron at the last minute. I've read that Porsche has used/is using them on some of their sporty models, but I don't know anything more.
Plain old 6061 aluminum plate is popular for Formula SAE race cars. They're very specialized and the rotors don't have to last long. There are some special pad materials available for this application.
Back in the '70s Hunt made some plasma-sprayed aluminum rotors for motorcycles. From anecdotal reports they worked okay until pressed very hard, and then the sprayed-on iron would pull off. Which is reasonable, considering brake temps can easily exceed the melting point of aluminum...
There have been various "composite" rotors. This usually means a stamped steel bowl for the hub, with a cast-on iron flange. Yamaha made something like that for motorcycles, except it used iron sheets brazed to a stamped steel core that was cut away for ventilation.
Beryllium was used briefly, and as far as I know has been outlawed by every major sanctioning body, with either "expense" or "beryllium dust poisoning" cited for reasons.
Carbon/carbon rotors have been used in some venues for close to 20 years now. Prices have come down a bit, and there are some new pad materials that work when less than smoking hot. "If you have to ask, you probably can't afford it."
I was planning on making a set of front and rear rotors for a Drag project I am doing. I will be making a set of front hubs, along with a set of floating hubs for the rear aswell. I had something like 1045 Steel or something similar in mind, just wanted to get some feedback from someone who may have done this before. Thanks for the replies so far
AL...
AL...
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bevans6
Mild steel rotors
I would personally stay away from a heat-treatable steel like 1045, i would use a plain mild steel. Local racers have done rotors in mild steel, plasma cut out of plate and blanchard round flat and parallel.
Brian
Brian
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bullheaded
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la360,
You might want to contact dba ( www.dba.com.au ) and see what they can suggest They make discs for just about anything that moves and it may save you reinventing the wheel (or disc in this case !)
Cheers , Pete.
You might want to contact dba ( www.dba.com.au ) and see what they can suggest They make discs for just about anything that moves and it may save you reinventing the wheel (or disc in this case !)
Cheers , Pete.