There are so many types of brake systems. The brake used by bicycles are different from those by cars and also different from that used by trucks.In this articles we shall discourse the basic brake types used by your car. We shall also discuss their mode of operation so as to know their advantages and short falls.
Bicycle
Talking about brake types can not get started without talking about the most simple brake type - The bicycle brake. If you ride a bicycle, you know all about brakes. If you want to stop suddenly, you squeeze the brake levers on the handlebars. Thin metal cables running to the back and front wheels pull on small calipers, forcing thick rubber blocks to press against the wheels. As they do so, friction between the blocks and the metal wheel rims generates heat, reducing your kinetic energy, and bringing you safely to a stop.
Drum brakes - single leading edge
The concept here is simple. Two semicircular brake shoes sit inside a spinning drum which is attached to the wheel. The "single leading edge" refers to the number of parts of the brake shoe which actually contact the spinning drum. When you apply the brakes, the shoes are expanded outwards to press against the inside of the drum. Because the brake shoe pivots at one end, simple geometry means that the entire brake pad cannot contact the brake drum. The leading edge is the term given to the part of the brake pad which does contact the drum, and in the case of a single leading edge system, it's the part of the pad closest to the actuator.
When the brake is applied, the shoes are pressed outwards and the part of the brake pad which first contacts the drum is the leading edge. The action of the drum spinning actually helps to draw the brake pad outwards because of friction, which causes the brakes to "bite". The trailing edge of the brake shoe makes virtually no contact with the drum at all. This simple geometry explains why it's really difficult to stop a vehicle rolling backwards if it's equipped only with single leading edge drum brakes. As the drum spins backwards, the leading edge of the shoe becomes the trailing edge and thus doesn't bite.
Now when the trailing edge bits, this creates friction, which creates heat, which transfers kinetic energy, which slows you down. The brakes shoes are moved by an actuator. They can come in different forms. In most cases a return spring is what pulls the shoes back away from the surface of the brake drum when the brakes are released.In preceding articles we shall have for more information on actuator types.
Drum brakes - double leading edge
The drawbacks of the single leading edge style of drum brake can be eliminated by adding a second return spring and turning the pivot point into a second actuator. Now when the brakes are applied, the shoes are pressed outwards at two points. So each brake pad now has one leading and one trailing edge. Because there are two brake shoes, there are two brake pads, which means there are two leading edges. Hence the name double leading edge.Double leading edge means braking action is possible even when the drum is spinning backward.
Disc brakes
Disc brakes are an order of magnitude better at stopping vehicles than drum brakes, which is why you'll find disc brakes on the front of almost every car and motorbike built today. Sportier vehicles with higher speeds need better brakes to slow them down, so you'll likely see disc brakes on the rear of those too.
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Disc brakes are again a two-part system. Instead of the drum, you have a disc or rotor, and instead of the brake shoes, you now have brake caliper assemblies. The caliper assemblies contain one or more hydraulic pistons which push against the back of the brake pads, clamping them together around the spinning rotor. The harder they clamp together, the more friction is generated, which means more heat, which means more kinetic energy transfer, which slows you down. You get the idea by now. Visit
Standard disc brakes have one or two cylinders in them - also know as one or two-pot calipers. Where more force is required, three, or more cylinders can be used. Sports bikes have 4- or 6-pot calipers arranged in pairs. The disadvantage of disc brakes is that they are extremely intolerant of faulty workmanship or bad machining. If you have a regular car disc rotor which is off by so much as 0.07mm (3/1000 inch) it will be Hell when you step on the brakes. That ever-so-slight warp or misalignment is going to spin through the clamped calipers at some ungodly speed and the resulting vibration will make you wonder if you're driving down stairs. To combat this problem, which is particularly critical on motorbikes, floating rotors were invented.
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