Improving Road Safety: Experimental Analysis of Brake Pad Performance Under Varying Speeds and Fluid Pressure

Indonesia faces significant traffic safety challenges, with an increasing number of accidents each year, primarily due to brake system failures. Approximately 80% of accidents in both public and freight transportation are attributed to brake failure and driver fatigue. The contributing factors include poor brake system performance, wear, and overheating. This study addresses these issues by designing an experimental brake pad performance tester to assess Mitsubishi Colt L300 brake pads under operational conditions in a controlled laboratory setting. The study employs analysis of variance (ANOVA) to evaluate how rotational speed and brake fluid pressure impact brake pad performance, focusing on temperature and friction coefficient values. To ensure reliability and regulatory compliance, the experimental procedures in this study were conducted in accordance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 135. The results show that an optimum brake fluid pressure of 2.2 kg/cm² (215.7 kPa) yields the best stopping distance, with a coefficient of friction ranging from 0.7382 to 0.4659. ANOVA indicated that the rotational speed did not significantly affect the temperature (p = 0.362), whereas the brake fluid pressure did (p = 0.038). Both variables significantly influenced the coefficient of friction (p = 0.001). These findings are important for the development of early warning systems (EWS) in vehicles, with the aim of enhancing braking system effectiveness and improving stopping distance performance.