Environmental protection and innovation are the only way for the development of domestic automotive brake pads industry

In the brake system of the car, the brake pads are the most critical safety parts. The brake pads play a decisive role in the effect of all brakes. Brake pads are generally composed of steel plates, adhesive heat insulation layers and friction blocks. The steel plates are painted to prevent rust. The heat-insulating layer is composed of a material that does not transfer heat and is intended to be insulated. The friction block is composed of a friction material and a binder. When the brake is braked, it is pressed against the brake disc or the brake drum to generate friction, thereby achieving the purpose of braking the vehicle to slow down. Due to the friction, the friction block wears out gradually. In general, the brake pads with lower cost wear faster. After the friction material is used, it is necessary to replace the brake pads in time. Otherwise, the steel plate and the brake disc will be in direct contact with each other, eventually the brake effect will be lost and the brake disc will be damaged, causing damage to people and cars.

The situation of the domestic brake pad industry is optimistic. In 2010, China's brake pad industry did not experience the same ups and downs as in the previous two years, and it has achieved steady and rapid growth as a whole. According to the information released by the Traffic Management Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, as of the end of September last year, China’s automobile ownership amounted to more than 85 million vehicles. In addition, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology predicts that China’s vehicle ownership will exceed 200 million by 2020. In 2010, under the effect of multiple incentive consumption policies, such as purchase tax incentives, trade-in replacements, automobile transportation to the countryside, and subsidies for energy-saving and consumer products, the auto industry both produced and sold more than 18 million vehicles, refreshing the global auto production and sales records, and reinventing The world's first. The rapid development of China's auto industry will directly stimulate the simultaneous development of brake pad manufacturers. At the same time, the market demand for future car brake pads will be affected from the perspective of brake pad inventory and incremental. In the stock market, because the brake pads are consumables, the frequency of update is faster, and the huge amount of car ownership will stimulate the demand for brake pads in the domestic aftermarket; at the same time, in the incremental market, the booming production and sales situation will make the brake pads in the package. The market is still in great demand. Therefore, the impact of the international financial crisis on the world economy's continued sluggishness on the brake pad industry has gradually disappeared. Signs of industrial warming have already appeared and the brake pad industry is ushering in a great opportunity for development.

According to statistics, there are more than 470 friction material manufacturers in China, including more than 40 Sino-foreign joint ventures and wholly foreign-owned enterprises. According to statistics, in 2010, China's friction material industry produced 426,000 tons of friction material products, the total output value was 8.53 billion yuan, and the foreign exchange earned through exports was 3.18 billion yuan, of which about 80% of the total friction material for automobiles was used. The overall production technology level of China's friction material industry has been greatly improved, and some leading enterprises have reached the international advanced level.

Environmental protection will become the key word for brake pads. In foreign markets, non-asbestos, low-metal, environmentally friendly friction materials (also known as NAO friction materials) have begun to be marketed; some countries in Europe and the United States have already restricted the harmful heavy metal components in friction materials and The content of copper is subject to legislation. In the foreseeable future, the content of heavy metal components in friction materials will become a trade limit for the export of friction materials to Europe and the United States. Therefore, as a brake pad company in China, at the same time as scientific and technological research and development, it is necessary to pay attention to environmental protection, reduce the use of harmful heavy metal components and copper in friction materials, and improve the international market competitiveness of domestic friction materials. China's auto brake pad industry is facing two major transformations: environmental protection and high performance. In addition to meeting the requirements of low temperature, low wear, low wear rate, and stable friction coefficient, the environmentally-friendly high-performance brake pads should also have low vibration and low noise. The environmental protection and humanistic performance features such as less dust fall have all put forward higher requirements for friction material formulation technology, raw material processing technology, compound preparation technology, hot press forming technology, heat treatment technology and follow-up processing technology.

Innovative technology to support enterprises to develop market advantages depends on technological advantages to support, the soul of technological progress lies in innovation. For China's brake pads companies, they must rely on independent innovation to become one of the world's most popular brands and fully meet the different needs of the host equipment and aftermarket. For friction materials, there are currently four major categories of semi-metals, low-metals, ceramics and organics coexisting internationally. As a new type of friction material, ceramic brake pads have the advantages of no noise, no falling ash, no corrosion of wheels, long service life, and environmental protection. At present, China's mainstream brake pad companies have already possessed the independent R&D and production capabilities of high-end ceramic brake pads, but the disadvantage of excessively high cost has made ceramic pad brakes less applicable to medium and low-end vehicles. Therefore, the use of technical means to find more cost-effective materials will have a huge impact on the entire brake pad industry.