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Drum brake

A drum brake is a brake in which the friction is caused by a set of shoes or pads that press against the inner surface of a rotating drum. The drum is connected to a rotating wheel.

History

The modern automobile drum brake was invented in 1902 by Louis Renault, though a less-sophisticated drum brake had been used by Maybach a year earlier. In the first drum brakes, the shoes were mechanically operated with levers and rods or cables. From the mid-1930s the shoes were operated with oil pressure in a small wheel cylinder and pistons (as in the picture), though some vehicles continued with purely-mechanical systems for decades. Some designs have two wheel cylinders.

The shoes in drum brakes are subject to wear and the brakes needed to be adjusted regularly until the introduction of self adjusting drum brakes in the 1950s. In the 1960s and 1970s brake drums on the front wheels of cars were gradually replaced with disc brakes and now practically all cars use disc brakes on the front wheels, with many offering disc brakes on all wheels. However, drum brakes are still often used for handbrakes as it has proved very difficult to design a disc brake suitable for holding a car when it is not in use. Moreover, it is very easy to fit a drum handbrake inside a disc brake so that one unit serves for both footbrake and handbrake.

Early type brake shoes contained asbestos. When working on brake systems of older cars, care must be taken not to inhale any dust present in the brake assembly. The United States Federal Government began to regulate asbestos production, and brake manufacturers had to switch to non-asbestos linings. Owners initially complained of poor braking with the replacements; however, technology eventually advanced to compensate. A majority of daily-driven older vehicles have been fitted with asbestos-free linings. Many other countries also limit the use of asbestos in brakes.

Self-applying characteristic

Drum brakes have a natural "self-applying" characteristic. The rotation of the drum can drag either or both of the shoes into the friction surface, causing the brakes to bite harder, which increases the force holding them together. This increases the stopping power without any additional effort being expended by the driver, but it does make it harder for the driver to modulate the brakes sensitively.

Disc brakes exhibit no self-applying effect because the hydraulic pressure acting on the pads is perpendicular to the direction of rotation of the disc. Disc brake systems therefore require servo assistance.

Drum brake designs

Drum brakes are typically described as either leading/trailing or twin leading.

Rear drum brakes are typically of a leading/trailing design, the shoes being moved by a single double-acting hydraulic cylinder and hinged at the same point. In this design, one of the brake shoes will always experience the self-applying effect, irrespective of whether the vehicle is moving forwards or backwards. This is particularly useful on the rear brakes, where the footbrake must exert enough force to stop the vehicle from travelling backwards and hold it on a slope. Provided the contact area of the brake shoes is large enough, which isn't always the case, the self-applying effect can securely hold a vehicle when the weight is transferred to the rear brakes due of the incline of a slope or the reverse direction of motion.

Front drum brakes may be of either design in practice, but the twin leading design is more effective. This design uses two actuating cylinders arranged so that both shoes will utilize the self-applying characteristic when the vehicle is moving forwards. The brake shoes pivot at opposite points to each other. This gives the maximum possible braking when moving forwards, but is not so effective when the vehicle is travelling in reverse.

The optimum arrangement of twin leading front brakes with leading/trailing brakes on the rear allows for more braking force to be deployed at the front of the vehicle when it is moving forwards, with less at the rear. This helps to prevent the rear wheels locking up, but still provides adequate braking at the rear when it is needed.

Advantages

Drum brakes are still used in some modern cars because of some engineering and cost advantages. Drum brakes allow simple incorporation of a parking brake. They are often applied to the rear wheels since most of the stopping happens in the front of the vehicle and therefore the heat generated in the rear is significantly less. Drum brakes are also occasionally fitted as the parking (and emergency) brake even when the rear wheels use disk brakes as the main brakes. In this situation, a small drum is usually fitted within or as part of the brake disk.

In hybrid vehicle applications, wear on braking systems is greatly reduced by energy recovering motor-generators (see regenerative braking), so some hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius use drum brakes.

Disadvantages

Drum brakes are designed to convert kinetic energy into heat energy via the process of friction. This heat is intended to be further transferred to atmosphere, but can just as easily transfer into other components of the braking system.

Brake drums have to be substantial pieces of steel or cast-iron to cope with the forces that are involved which can retain a lot of heat. Heat transfer to atmosphere can be aided by incorporating fins into the design of the drum (see heat sink). However, excessive heating can occur due to heavy or repeated braking which can cause the drum to distort, leading to vibration under braking.

The other consequence of overheating is brake fade. This is due to one of several processes or more usually an accumulation of all of them.

1. When the drums are heated by hard braking, the diameter of the drum increases slightly due to thermal expansion of the material, this means the brakes shoes have to move further and the brake pedal has to be depressed more.

2. The properties of the friction material can change if heated, creating less friction. This is usually only temporary and the material regains its efficiency when cooled, but if the surface overheats to the point where it becomes glazed the reduction in braking efficiency is more permanent. Surface glazing can be worn away with further use of the brakes, but that takes time.

3. Excessive heating of the brake drums can cause the brake fluid to vapourise, which reduces the hydraulic pressure being applied to the brake shoes. Therefore less retardation is achieved for a given amount of pressure on the pedal. The effect is worsened by poor maintenance. If the brake fluid is old and has absorbed moisture it thus has a lower boiling point and brake fade occurs sooner.

Brake fade is not always due to the effects of overheating. If water gets between the friction surfaces and the drum, it acts as a lubricant and reduces braking efficiency. The water tends to stay there until it is heated sufficiently to vapourise, at which point braking efficiency is fully restored.

Disc brakes are not immune to any of these processes, but they deal with heat and water more effectively than drums.

Re-arc'ing

Before 1984, it was common to re-arc brake shoes to match the arc within brake drums. This practice, however, was controversial as it removed friction material from the brakes and caused a reduction in the life of the shoes as well as created hazardous asbestos dust. Current design theory is to use shoes for the proper diameter drum, and to simply replace the brake drum when necessary, rather than perform the re-arcing procedure.

Adjustment

Early drum brakes (before about 1955) required periodic adjustment to compensate for drum and shoe wear. If not done sufficiently often long brake pedal travel ("low pedal") resulted. Low pedal can be a severe hazard when combined with brake fade as the brakes can become ineffective when the pedal bottoms out.

Self adjusting brakes may use a mechanism that engages only when the vehicle is being stopped from reverse motion. This is a traditional method suitable for use where all wheels use drum brakes (most vehicles now use disc brakes on the front wheels). By operating only in reverse it is less likely that the brakes will be adjusted while hot (when the drums are expanded), which could cause dragging brakes that would accelerate wear and increase fuel consumption.

Self adjusting brakes may also operate by a ratchet mechanism engaged as the hand brake is applied, a means suitable for use where only rear drum brakes are used. If the travel of the parking brake actuator lever exceeds a certain amount, the ratchet turns an adjuster screw that moves the brake shoes toward the drum.

The manual adjustment knob is usually at the bottom of the drum and is adjusted via a hole on the opposite side of the wheel. This requires getting underneath the car and moving the clickwheel with a flathead screwdriver. It is important and tedious to adjust each wheel evenly so as to not have the car pull to one side during heavy braking, especially if on the front wheels. Either give each one the same amount of clicks and then perform a road test, or raise each wheel off the ground and spin it by hand measuring how much force it takes and feeling whether or not the shoes are dragging.

Use in music

The brake drum, using a reversed name, can be very effective in modern concert and film music to provide a non-pitched metal sound similar to an anvil. Some have more resonance than others, and the best method of producing the clearest sound is to hang the drum with nylon cord or to place it on foam. Other methods include mounting the brake drum on a snare drum stand. Either way, the brake drum is struck with hammers or sticks of various weight.

It is also commonly used in steelpan ensembles, where it is called "the iron."