Brembo brake disc - How is it made?

[Music] high-performance cars typically have ceramic composite brake discs rather than regular cast-iron ones that kind of power on wheels requires being lightweight and cast-iron is very heavy it would also wear out too quickly due to the intense heat friction generates when you brake a car with such a powerful engine ceramic is heat resistant up to eighteen hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit therefore these ceramic composite brake discs last about sixty times longer than standard cast-iron discs ceramic composite means the ceramic material silicon is combined with carbon fiber for strength the disc Factory prepares the carbon fiber by mixing two ingredients a heat molded resin and chopped pieces of raw carbon fiber the strength of which lies in the interweaving of its miniscule carbon filaments automated machines pour the carbon fiber into aluminum molds in the shape of the disk ring the first filling station fills the mold cavity only halfway [Music] workers then fit a slotted belt around the mold and insert aluminum cores into the slots these cores will form a ventilation channel in the disk ring to keep the disk from overheating [Music] [Music] now the mold moves on to the next filling station it fills the remainder of the cavity with carbon fiber a roller levels the top then workers close up the mold and a small press pushes down the cover to lightly compact the contents the mold enters a large press which applies 20 tons of pressure while heating to almost 400 degrees Fahrenheit this compacts the carbon fiber and transforms the resin powder into plastic once the mold is cooled down enough to be handled workers submerge it in cold water for five to eight minutes this cools the disk ring completely enabling them to pull out the cores a computer-guided laser then examines the mold to make sure every last core has been removed when they get the all-clear they open the top and bottom sections of the mold and extract the disk ring computer guided machines then smooth out the rough areas and drill tiny ventilation holes they put the disk ring into an oven which over the course of two days gradually heats it to just over 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit this causes a chemical change which transforms the plastic into carbon next they take a crucible a high heat-resistant container and position five mounts inside [Music] they place the disk ring on the mounts then in the middle a funnel into which they pour a ceramic material a fine silicon powder then they load the crucible into an oven for 24 hours it gradually heats the disk ring to more than 3000 degrees Fahrenheit melting the silicon then it applies low-level suction drawing the now liquid silicon into the disk ring this creates an exceptionally hard new material called silicon carbide after a computer-guided drill bores mounting holes the disc ring goes into a chamber where it receives a coat of protective paint the paint shields the carbon in the disk ring from oxygen which is critical because at high heat oxygen burns carbon this anti oxidation treatment significantly extends the life of the brake disc the paint is cured in an oven leaving behind a white residue a robot sends it off then polishes the entire disk ring surface [Music] here's what the finished disc ring looks like before it's cleaned and polished and after every single break disk ring undergoes a meticulous inspection this sophisticated machine takes thousands of high-definition photographs of the surface which a computer then analyzes in micron level detail to complete the brake discs they effects the Bell a circular component in the middle which connects the brake disc to the vehicle the Bell is made of either aluminum or stainless steel and bolted into the mounting holes in the disk ring if you have any comments about the show or if you'd like to suggest topics for future shows drop us a line at Science Channel com /how it's made [Music]

Channel: Petr Hlawiczka

Views: 2,122,607

Keywords: formula one f1, brembo disc, braking brake, how is it made, rim wheel bell

Id: MAzbbID6BZ0

Length: 5min 30sec (330 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 18 2013