Construction
The most common arrangement of hydraulic brakes for passenger vehicles, motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds, consists of the following:
- Brake pedal or lever
- A pushrod (also called an actuating rod)
- A master cylinder assembly containing a piston assembly (made up of either one or two pistons, a return spring, a series of gaskets/ O-rings and a fluid reservoir)
- Reinforced hydraulic lines
- Brake caliper assembly usually consisting of one or two hollow aluminum or chrome-plated steel pistons (called caliper pistons), a set of thermally conductive brake pads and a rotor (also called a brake disc) or drum attached to an axle.
The system is usually filled with a glycol-ether based brake fluid (other fluids may also be used).
At one time,the passenger vehicles commonly employed drum brakes on all four wheels. Later, disc brakes were used for the front and drum brakes for the rear. However, because disc brakes have shown a better stopping performance and are therefore generally safer and more effective than drum brakes, four-wheel disc brakes have become increasingly popular, replacing drums on all but the most basic vehicles. Many two-wheel vehicles designs, however, continue to employ a drum brake for the rear wheel.
For simplicity, the braking system described hereafter uses the terminology and configuration for a simple breake 'disc breake'.
Read more about this topic: Hydraulic Brake
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