Start of funding 01.01.2024

Sustainable high performance ceramic brake discs for heavy vehicles under harsh conditions

Prof. Dr. Stefan Schafföner
University of Bayreuth
Chair of Ceramic Materials Engineering

Prof. Dr. Steven Nutt
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science



Light weight C/C-SiC ceramics (< 2.5 g/cm3) were initially applied in space applications, e.g. for thermal protection systems. One spin-off towards civil application are high performance friction materials like service brake discs for passenger cars.

Based on these experiences the idea in this project is to develop a novel more sustainable ceramic friction material (e.g. pads or discs) for heavy vehicles under harsh conditions. In military service the vehicles are often very heavy 2…40 t (multipurpose vehicles, armored personnel carrier, infantry tanks) and must constantly operate under low and high temperatures, wet and dry conditions, corrosive attack by salty solutions and under abrasive attack by sand dust. No metallic disc can withstand those challenging conditions for long time, that is required.

The focus of the innovation and the increase of the sustainability is the application of new plasma assisted fast heating techniques and recycled materials to decrease the CO2-footprint significantly. After fabrication, done in USC and UBT, the material will be studied on a fly wheel-braking test rig Bayreuth.