december2022 - 12

" Meritor continues developing and testing new
technologies for overall brake health, such as positive
pad retraction, a solution that improves brake
drag and fuel efficiency, and enables longer pad
life, " Wong continued. " We have also developed
smart sensor-based products, such as a pad wear
warning indicator that enables wear
prediction and proactive
maintenance planning. "
In addition, Meritor has
in the works an equivalent
solution in a lining
wear indicator for drum
brakes. " Collectively,
these new technologies
support fleet technology
and information requirements
for trucks and trailers,
and contribute to TCO
optimization, uptime, and
reliability, " Wong said.
Meritor was acquired by
» Meritor EX+ LS
air disc brake
Meritor
Cummins this year, and
time will tell how this will
further push Meritor's braking
systems forward.
Bendix
Commercial vehicle
safety technologies are
increasingly complex,
and full-stability systems
are mandated for all new
trucks, pointed out Mark
Holley, Bendix director of
marketing and customer
solutions, wheel-end.
" Ultimately, these systems
depend on consistent stopping
power at the wheel ends
» Bendix ADB22XLT
for trailers
Bendix
to work at their best, " he said.
" That's where air disc brakes
shine-and it's a big part of
the reason that adoption
rates for ADBs are now
approaching 50% on trucks
and tractors.
" Air disc brakes also provide shorter stopping
distances than drum brakes, " Holley continued.
" At 60 mph, a fully loaded tractor-trailer stops in
about 225 ft. with drum brakes. In our testing,
air disc brakes showed a 12% improvement by
reducing the stopping distance to roughly 200 ft.,
and some of our testing showed up to an almost
75-ft. difference when drum brake fade becomes
a factor. "
Brake fade can happen when heat friction on
the drum causes it to expand away from the friction
material. This lengthens the pushrod stroke
needed for the brake to contact the drum frictional
surface, weakening the stopping power.
Bendix also offers pad wear sensing on its
ADB22X air disc brakes. The technology removes
the guesswork from friction replacement because it
uses a sensor to determine when the pad is nearing
its end of life, then generates a diagnostic code that
can either be sent to the fleet office via telematics
or pulled by a technician using a diagnostic tool.
This enables fleets to make sure they have friction
12 Fleet Maintenance | December 2022
available and proactively schedule maintenance
while also protecting costly components like rotors
from being damaged by worn-out friction.
Holley also pointed out that electric commercial
vehicles will be spec'd with air disc brakes
and that Bendix is actively engaged in numerous
projects with commercial EV OEMs. The EVs will
employ regenerative braking, which will reduce
wear on any brakes by capturing that stopping
energy in the motor and converting it to electrical
energy that is stored in the battery.
ZF CV Solutions
ZF, which folded Wabco into its newly formed CV
Solutions group, is also high on ADBs.
" Air disc brakes really shine in conditions that
heat the brakes up more than the defined test, "
ZF's Chuck Brodie explained. " Long downhill runs,
stops from higher speeds, and multiple stops are
where drum brake performance can be impacted
more than on disc brakes. "
ZF's latest foundation air disc brake offering,
the MAXXUS L2.0, has been in production since
2020. And these will also help steer the future of
higher degrees of autonomous driving.
" From a purely pneumatic and mechanical
setup, brake system evolution led to stability
control, increasing safety, and adding more SAE
Level 1 and Level 2 functionality to enhance safe
and efficient driving, " Brodie related. " Looking
ahead, with fully integrated deceleration control,
brakes will include regenerative braking capability
and with that bring in efficiency and reduced
friction brake maintenance.
" To put it simply, the driver tells the system how
fast they want to decelerate by applying the brake
pedal, and the system will use the most efficient
combination of engine brake, retarder control, and
regenerative braking when available to achieve
the driver's demanded deceleration, " he explained
further. " That makes for an easy-to-operate system
with optimized efficiency and brake friction material
life. "
TSE Brakes
Air disc and drum brake systems technology
continues to evolve, noted Patrick McNamara, VP
of sales and marketing at TSE Brakes. Two key
items that are available from the company are
ADB brake pad sensors and, for drum brakes, the
TSE-Sense system, which monitors not only brake
stroke but also service and parking-brake status.
» The TSE Sense
Intelligent Air Brake
Chamber continuously
monitors brake stroke
and can detect
several performance
issues.
TSE Brakes
»Wabco MAXXUS L2.0
ZF CV Solutions
" Air disc brakes
really shine in
conditions that
heat the brakes
up more than the
defined test. "
Chuck Brodie, ZF
" Those solutions assist fleets with planning
preventive maintenance and provide fleets with
real-time data with regard to the brake performance, "
McNamara said. " The TSE-Sense system
can also assist with early indication of when to
service based on brake stroke. That not only
keeps brakes operating at their optimum but
also prevents out-of-service events as fleets are
notified in advance that they are approaching
out-of-stroke parameters. "
december2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of december2022
