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| Are drilled or slotted rotors more efficient than solid rotors? |
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Author: Archives Views: 5847 Votes: 3 |
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Question: Are drilled or slotted rotors more efficient than solid rotors?
Answer: There are many different reasons rotors are drilled or slotted. Sometimes the rotors are drilled to lighten them, though your weight savings is probably negligible. Honda claims the discontinuities help braking in the rain and provide an escape route for mud or rust. Fred Puhn's "Brake Handbook" says, "Some rotors have slots or holes machined into their contact surfaces. These reduce hot-gas and dust- particle buildup between pad and rotor. Although fade caused by gas buildup is less for a disc brake than for a drum brake, some fade still occurs. This is more prevalent with large brake pads, because the hot gas has a harder time escaping than with small pads. Therefore, slots or holes have greater effect in racing, where pads are large and temperatures are very high." Newcomb & Spurr's "Braking of Road Vehicles", 1967, tells us the mass of the rotor is the primary factor for preventing brake fade. When the rotor mass has absorbed enough heat, the brake will fade. Vented rotors and ducting schemes will cool the rotor faster, but it takes time; in rapid repeated braking cycles vented rotors do little better than solid ones. Carroll Smith's "Prepare To Win", 1975, says "Lately you may have seen discs with tangential slots milled in the friction surfaces or holes drilled in a tangential pattern normal to the friction surface. This is an effort to wipe the "fireband" or boundary layer off the disc before it reaches the point of contact with the pad and to provide the very hot particles of friction material worn off with some place to go other than the operating area."
Last update: 04:31 PM Sunday, September 26, 2004 |
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