The following is excerpted from an article by Vlad Radu posted on autoevolution on the design and engineering which is behind the Porsche Surface Coated Brakes (PSCB).
BUCHAREST – The Zuffenhausen-based sports and luxury car manufacturer likes to do things differently. That’s proven by its continuous use of boxer engines but also by its revolutionary braking system which features a unique tungsten carbide coating on each rotor and a set of specifically developed pads that boost performance and reduce wear.
In the automotive industry, standard brake rotors are commonly made from gray iron, which provides decent performance and durability at a relatively low cost.
For better results, carmakers use ceramic composite or carbon-ceramic rotors and pads on vehicles with much more power. Although significantly more expensive to produce, they are more durable and provide better thermal stability.
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But what if you could produce a brake rotor that is cost-effective and able to deliver increased performance and durability? This was a question that drove engineers to develop the Porsche Surface Coated Brake (PSCB), a technology that uses a revolutionary rotor coating to provide excellent performance, completely prevents rust, and provides an increased lifespan for both pads and rotors.
The key element here is tungsten carbide, which has been studied extensively and was found to be the perfect composite for the intense requirements of a vehicle’s braking system.
Since manufacturing rotors made entirely out of this material would have cost more than several sets of carbon-ceramic brakes, and the technology to do so is not quite there yet, engineers chose to use standard rotors and coat them with a tungsten carbide layer instead.
After countless hours of research, development, and testing along with tech giants Bosch, they came up with a conventional iron rotor that was laser-processed to offer structure, then galvanized with an interlayer that functions as a flexible bond for the innovative final layer.
To view the entire article, click HERE.
