A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system.
Purpose Of Brakes
It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction.
Most of you driven a car while driving we apply the brake to slow down or stop the car. When the brake is applied it provides additional frictional resistance to the moving wheel hence retarding it’s motion. Similarly, brakes are used in other vehicles and machines to retard their motion. Thus brake is a device used in a machine inhibit motion by providing artificial frictional resistance to a moving member in the process of braking the brakes absorb the kinetic energy of the moving member and dissipated it in heat energy.
The effectiveness of the brakes are depends on the following factors:
- Pressure between the braking surfaces.
- Co-efficient of friction between the braking surfaces.
- Peripheral velocity of the brake disk
- Projected area of the frictional surfaces.
- Ability to dissipate a head.
