SUSTAINABLE BRAKE PAD RECYCLING THROUGH NANOSCALE WASTE UTILIZATION

This research emphasizes the recycling in brake pad industry, focusing on recovering and remanufacturing waste materials. The recycling is based on; reusing the waste of post-consumer brake pads, powder aerosolization during the newly developed products, and airborne particulate dispersion generated from brake pads finishing operation. Three formulations for friction materials incorporating different amount of Sieved Nanoparticle Grinding Waste Powder (SNGWP) were designed to evaluate the effects of SNGWP concentration on the of brake pad performance. All formulations comprise the same SNGWP average particle size (554.7 nm). Increasing the SNGWP portion derived by replacing the friction dust constituent in the formulation, whether partial or entire replacement. Higher amount of SNGWP in the formulation leading to produce composite with finer particle size. Formuation1, 2, and 3, encompass the least, an intermediate, and the maximum SNGWP amount, respectively. The manufactured formulations when subjected to physical and mechanical testing, all of them exhibited good properties, in which the recorded values delivered from; density, hardness, cross break, tensile, and shear testing, meet the standard requirement of the brake pad material. Additionally, the tribological behavior were assessed by conducting the dynamic braking stress on the formulated composites, utilizing the dynamometer testing. The results illustrate that the overall wear properties of all SNGWP-based brake pad formulations are consistent with typical standard assessments of non-asbestos composites. However, Formulation 3, with the largest portion of SNGWP, underwent adhesive wear pattern, leading the least wear loss. The microscopic analyses confirm the tribological results. The findings validate the feasibility of reusing SNGWP as a reinforcing constituent in eco-friendly brake pads without undermining reliability and safety.