Brake damping test bench
Mecanum’s brake damping test bench measures the amplitude and damping of the bending and torsion modes of brake pad insulator shims, across frequency and temperature, following SAE J3001. Brake squeal drives premature pad replacement and fleet maintenance costs, and high-damping shims between the pad and its backing plate are a proven way to suppress it. By quantifying shim damping precisely, the bench helps manufacturers select and develop insulators that deliver a quieter, more durable braking experience.
Measuring range
Frequency
300 Hz to 13 kHz
Operating temperature
-10 °C to 120 °C
Amplitude and damping of bending and torsion modes on the measurement range (frequency and temperature)
No limitations, depends on sample characteristics
Dimensions
Test bench
260 (L) x 110 (W) x 185 (H) mm
Sample
160 x 50 mm, bonded on 180 x 50 x 5 mm steel plate
Measured properties
Amplitude of bending and torsion modes
Damping of bending and torsion modes
ETA-X
ETA-X measures the damping ratio of your test sample through a clear measurement process, guiding you from the plate measurement to the damping-ratio visualization while saving time and preventing measurement mistakes. A graphical tool distinguishes bending and torsion modes to avoid post-processing errors, and the fully automated measurement covers wide temperature ranges at high resolution, across up to three test benches, while you do something else. With its semi-automatic analyzer mode, an advanced set of visualization tools, and a one-click Excel report compliant with SAE J3001 and complete with built-in graphs, it makes a demanding brake-damping test straightforward.
Coming soon.
Automotive industry
Qualify and optimize brake pad insulator shims to suppress squeal and reduce premature pad replacement, on-road and off-road.
Universities
Study brake noise mechanisms and the damping behavior of insulator shims with a standardized SAE J3001 method.
Optional accessories, available with your brake damping test bench or separately.
Climatic chamber
Damping materials are viscoelastic, so their performance shifts with temperature, sometimes dramatically. Measuring at room temperature alone tells only part of the story. The optional climatic chamber lets the brake damping test bench characterize a material across its full operating window, so you see how it behaves at the temperatures it will actually meet in service, not just on the bench.
The chamber controls both temperature and humidity around the test beam, holding stable conditions while the measurement runs. Combined with the bench’s frequency sweep, this gives you damping loss factor and modulus as functions of both temperature and frequency, the complete data set needed to model viscoelastic behavior and to match a damping solution to its application.
Key points:
• Controlled temperature across the bench’s full operating range, from -40 to 130 °C.
• Humidity control for stable, repeatable test conditions.
• Integrates directly with the brake damping test bench.
• Pilots up to 3 test benches simultaneously.
• Enables temperature-frequency characterization and 3D property surfaces.