How Disc Brakes Work
Most modern cars have disc brakes on the front wheels, and some have disc brakes on all four wheels. This is the part of the brake system that does the actual work of stopping the car.
The most common type of disc brake on modern cars is the single-piston floating caliper. In this article, we will learn all about this type of disc brake design.
Here is the location of the disc brakes in a car:
The main components of a disc brake are:
- The brake pads
- The caliper, which contains a piston
- The rotor, which is mounted to the hub
A moving car has a certain amount of kinetic energy, and the brakes have to remove this energy from the car in order to stop it. How do the brakes do this? Each time you stop your car, your brakes convert the kinetic energy to heat generated by the friction between the pads and the disc. Most car disc brakes are vented.
Vented disc brakes have a set of vanes, between the two sides of the disc, that pumps air through the disc to provide cooling.