Automotive braking is a source of highly charged aerosol particles.

Although the last several decades have seen a dramatic reduction in emissions from vehicular exhaust, nonexhaust emissions (e.g., brake and tire wear) represent an increasingly significant class of traffic-related particulate pollution. Aerosol particles emitted from the wear of automotive brake pads contribute roughly half of the particle mass attributed to nonexhaust sources, while their relative contribution to urban air pollution overall will almost certainly grow coinciding with vehicle fleet electrification and the transition to alternative fuels. To better understand the implications of this growing prominence, a more thorough understanding of the physicochemical properties of brake wear particles (BWPs) is needed. Here, we investigate the electrical properties of BWPs as emitted from ceramic and semi-metallic brake pads. We show that up to 80% of BWPs emitted are electrically charged and that this fraction is strongly dependent on the specific brake pad material used. A dependence of the number of charges per particle on charge polarity and particle size is also demonstrated. We find that brake wear produces both positive and negative charged particles that can hold in excess of 30 elementary charges and show evidence that more negative charges are produced than positive. Our results will provide insights into the currently limited understanding of BWPs and their charging mechanisms, which potentially have significant implications on their atmospheric lifetimes and thus their relevance to climate and air quality. In addition, our study will inform future efforts to remove BWP emissions before entering the atmosphere by taking advantage of their electric charge.

Tracer-Gas-Integrated Measurements of Brake-Wear Particulate Matter Emissions from Heavy-Duty Vehicles.

Automotive brake-wear emissions are increasingly important in on-road particulate matter (PM) emission inventory. Previous studies reported a high level of PM emissions from the friction materials of light/medium-duty vehicles, but there are few data available from heavy-duty (HD) vehicles equipped with drum brakes despite their popularity (∼85% in HD vehicle fleet). This study developed a novel tracer-gas-integrated method for brake-wear PM emission measurements and evaluated four HD vehicles on a chassis dynamometer that complied with regulatory exhaust emission testing requirements. Three class-6 vehicles with a similar test weight demonstrated repeatability, with the coefficient of variation in the range of 9-36%. Braking events increased PM concentrations by 3 orders of magnitude above the background level. Resuspension of brake-wear PM also occurred during acceleration and contributed to 8-31% of the total PM2.5 mass. The class-6 vehicles had PM2.5 emissions from a single brake (0.7-1.5 mg/km/brake), generally similar to the level of tail-pipe exhaust PM emissions (0.7-1.5 mg/km/vehicle) of each vehicle. A class-8 vehicle exhibited brake-wear PM2.5 emissions (2.4-3.4 mg/km/brake) significantly higher than the tail-pipe exhaust PM emissions (∼1.3 mg/km/vehicle). This article reports an exceptionally high level of brake-wear PM emissions measured directly from the drum brakes of HD vehicles.

Size-segregated source identification of water-soluble and water-insoluble metals and trace elements of coarse and fine PM in central Los Angeles.

In this study, the water-solubility and sources of metals and trace elements in both fine and coarse particulate matter (PM) were investigated in Central Los Angeles. Sampling was performed in the winter, spring, and summer of 2022 at the Particle Instrumentation Unit (PIU) of the University of Southern California located in the proximity of I-110 freeway. Both fine and coarse PM samples were collected using Personal Cascade Impactors (PCIS) and chemically analyzed to determine their water-soluble and water-insoluble metal content. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) were used to determine the sources of soluble and insoluble metals and obtain their contributions to total metal concentration. Our results indicate that the water-solubility of most of the metals is higher in the fine size fraction compared to the coarse fraction. Seasonal variations in the water solubility of selected metals for both coarse and fine fractions were observed, with higher water-soluble metal concentrations in summer for several species (e.g., Fe, S, Pb, Cu, La, Ni, and Al), possibly due to higher photochemical processing, while in winter, almost all species exhibited higher insoluble fraction concentrations. The PCA and MLR analyses results showed that tire and brake wear was the most significant contributor to the total metals for both fine soluble and insoluble portions, accounting for 35% and 75% of the total metals, respectively. Combustion sources also contributed substantially to water-soluble metals for fine and coarse size ranges, representing 40% and 32% of the total metal mass, respectively. In addition, mineral dust and soil and re-suspended dust were identified as the highest contributors to coarse metals. The MLR analysis also revealed that secondary aerosols contributed 11% to the fine water-soluble metals. Our results suggest that non-tailpipe emissions significantly contribute to both coarse and fine PM metals in the Central Los Angeles region.

Airway contraction and cytokine release in isolated rat lungs induced by wear particles from the road and tire interface and road vehicle brakes.

The dominant road traffic particle sources are wear particles from the road and tire interface, and from vehicle brake pads. The aim of this work was to investigate the effect of road and brake wear particles on pulmonary function and biomarkers in isolated perfused rat lungs. Particles were sampled from the studded tire wear of three road pavements containing different rock materials in a road simulator; and from the wear of two brake pad materials using a pin-on-disk machine. Isolated rat lungs inhaled the coarse and fine fractions of the sampled particles resulting in an estimated total particle lung dose of 50 µg. The tidal volume (TV) was measured during the particle exposure and the following 50 min. Perfusate and BALF were analyzed for the cytokines TNF, CXCL1 and CCL3. The TV of lungs exposed to rock materials was significantly reduced after 25 min of exposure compared to the controls, for quartzite already after 4 min. The particles of the heavy-duty brake pads had no effect on the TV. Brake particles resulted in a significant elevation of CXCL1 in the perfusate. Brake particles showed significant elevations of all three measured cytokines, and quartzite showed a significant elevation of TNF in BALF. The study shows that the toxic effect on lungs exposed to airborne particles can be investigated using measurements of tidal volume. Furthermore, the study shows that the choice of rock material in road pavements has the potential to affect the toxicity of road wear PM10.

Inhalation toxicity profiles of particulate matter: a comparison between brake wear with other sources of emission.

Objective: There is substantial evidence that exposure to airborne particulate matter (PM) from road traffic is associated with adverse health outcomes. Although it is often assumed to be caused by vehicle exhaust emissions such as soot, other components may also contribute to detrimental effects. The toxicity of fine PM (PM2.5; <2.5 µm mass median aerodynamic diameter) released from brake pads was compared to PM from other sources. Materials and methods: PM2.5 of different types of brake pads (low-metallic, semi-metallic, NAO and ECE-NAO hybrid), tires and road pavement, poultry as well as the combustion of diesel fuel and wood (modern and old-fashioned stove technologies) were collected as suspensions in water. These were subsequently aerosolized for inhalation exposures. Female BALB/cOlaHsd mice were exposed for 1.5, 3, or 6 hours by nose-only inhalation up to 9 mg/m3. Results: Neither cytotoxicity nor oxidative stress was observed after exposure to any of the re-aerosolized PM2.5 samples. Though, at similar PM mass concentrations the potency to induce inflammatory responses was strongly dependent on the emission source. Exposure to most examined PM2.5 sources provoked inflammation including those derived from the poultry farm, wear emissions of the NAO and ECE-NAO hybrid brake pads as well as diesel and wood combustion, as indicated by neutrophil chemoattractant, KC and MIP-2 and lung neutrophil influx. Discussion and conclusions: Our study revealed considerable variability in the toxic potency of brake wear particles. Understanding of sources that are most harmful to health can provide valuable information for risk management strategies and could help decision-makers to develop more targeted air pollution regulation.

Biological response of an in vitro human 3D lung cell model exposed to brake wear debris varies based on brake pad formulation.

Wear particles from automotive friction brake pads of various sizes, morphology, and chemical composition are significant contributors towards particulate matter. Knowledge concerning the potential adverse effects following inhalation exposure to brake wear debris is limited. Our aim was, therefore, to generate brake wear particles released from commercial low-metallic and non-asbestos organic automotive brake pads used in mid-size passenger cars by a full-scale brake dynamometer with an environmental chamber simulating urban driving and to deduce their potential hazard in vitro. The collected fractions were analysed using scanning electron microscopy via energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and Raman microspectroscopy. The biological impact of the samples was investigated using a human 3D multicellular model consisting of human epithelial cells (A549) and human primary immune cells (macrophages and dendritic cells) mimicking the human epithelial tissue barrier. The viability, morphology, oxidative stress, and (pro-)inflammatory response of the cells were assessed following 24 h exposure to ~ 12, ~ 24, and ~ 48 µg/cm2 of non-airborne samples and to ~ 3.7 µg/cm2 of different brake wear size fractions (2-4, 1-2, and 0.25-1 µm) applying a pseudo-air-liquid interface approach. Brake wear debris with low-metallic formula does not induce any adverse biological effects to the in vitro lung multicellular model. Brake wear particles from non-asbestos organic formulated pads, however, induced increased (pro-)inflammatory mediator release from the same in vitro system. The latter finding can be attributed to the different particle compositions, specifically the presence of anatase.

Automotive airborne brake wear debris nanoparticles and cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay in peripheral blood lymphocytes: A pilot study.

Motor vehicle exhaust and non-exhaust processes play a significant role in environmental pollution, as they are a source of the finest particulate matter. Emissions from non-exhaust processes include wear-products of brakes, tires, automotive hardware, road surface, and traffic signs, but still are paid little attention to. Automotive friction composites for brake pads are composite materials which may consist of potentially hazardous materials and there is a lack of information regarding the potential influence of the brake wear debris (BWD) on the environment, especially on human health. Thus, we focused our study on the genotoxicity of the airborne fraction of BWD using a brake pad model representing an average low-metallic formulation available in the EU market. BWD was generated in the laboratory by a full-scale brake dynamometer and characterized by Raman microspectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy showing that it contains nano-sized crystalline metal-based particles. Genotoxicity tested in human lymphocytes in different testing conditions showed an increase in frequencies of micronucleated binucleated cells (MNBNCs) exposed for 48h to BWD nanoparticles (NPs) (with 10% of foetal calf serum in culture medium) compared with lymphocytes exposed to medium alone, statistically significant only at the concentration 3µg/cm(2) (p=0.032).

Constrained Source Apportionment of Coarse Particulate Matter and Selected Trace Elements in Three Cities from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.

PM10-2.5 mass and trace element concentrations were measured in Winston-Salem, Chicago, and St. Paul at up to 60 sites per city during two different seasons in 2010. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) was used to explore the underlying sources of variability. Information on previously reported PM10-2.5 tire and brake wear profiles was used to constrain these features in PMF by prior specification of selected species ratios. We also modified PMF to allow for combining the measurements from all three cities into a single model while preserving city-specific soil features. Relatively minor differences were observed between model predictions with and without the prior ratio constraints, increasing confidence in our ability to identify separate brake wear and tire wear features. Brake wear, tire wear, fertilized soil, and re-suspended soil were found to be important sources of copper, zinc, phosphorus, and silicon respectively across all three urban areas.

Regenerative braking system effectively reduces the formation of brake wear particles.

Brake wear particles (BWPs) are considered one of the most significant non-exhaust particle emission sources from motor vehicles. Previous studies have primarily focused on BWPs from conventional fuel vehicles (CFVs), with limited research available on BWPs from new energy vehicles (NEVs). We developed an independent BWP emission testing system applicable to NEVs and conducted BWP emission tests on representative NEVs and CFVs under various testing cycles via a chassis dynamometer. The BWP emission characteristics of the NEVs equipped with regenerative braking system significantly differed from those of gasoline vehicles. For transient emission characteristics, gasoline vehicles exhibited higher peak concentrations during brake events than brake drag events, while those with regenerative braking exhibited the opposite feature. Under continuous braking, the concentration of ultrafine particles emitted by NEVs was reduced by more than 3 orders of magnitude compared to gasoline vehicles. In terms of single-particle morphology, BWPs could be mainly divided into three categories: carbonaceous particles, iron-rich particles, and mixed metal particles. We obtained realistic emission characteristics of BWPs from NEVs, which could provide data support and a scientific basis for the formulation of relevant emission standards and control measures in the future.

Metal contents and size distributions of brake and tire wear particles dispersed in the near-road environment.

Traffic related non-tailpipe particulate matter emissions can rival the continuously decreasing tailpipe emissions in modern fleets. Non-tailpipe emissions have become the dominating source of traffic emissions in California already. This study measured ambient PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations at near road environments for two major highways in California, I-5 in Anaheim and I-710 in Long Beach. A total of 51 elements were measured from filter samples collected over four-hour intervals for a two-week period in the winter of 2020 before the statewide lockdown by the COVID-19 pandemic. Iron was the most abundant element in ΔPM10 (differences between downwind and upwind sites), contributing to 30 % and 24 % of total measured elements in ΔPM10 at the I-5 and I-710 locations, respectively. Iron correlated highly with other brake wear markers (e.g., titanium, copper, barium, manganese, and zirconium) with coefficient of determination (r2) ranging from 0.67 to 0.90 in both PM2.5 and PM10. Silicon was the second most abundant element, contributing to 21 % of total measured elements in ΔPM2.5 and ΔPM10. Silicon showed strong correlations with crustal elements such as calcium (r2 = 0.90), aluminum (r2 = 0.96), and potassium (r2 = 0.72) in ΔPM2.5, and the correlations were even higher in ΔPM10. Barium had a weak correlation with zinc, a commonly used maker for tire wear, with r2 = 0.63 and r2 = 0.11 for ΔPM10 at the I-5 and I-710 locations respectively. Barium showed a positive correlation with crosswind speed and could serve as a good brake wear PM marker. Hourly PM2.5 concentrations of iron and zinc showed cyclic peaks from 0800 to 1000 h at I-5 during weekdays. Particle mass distributions showed peaks near ~7 µm, while particle number distributions showed peaks near 2.1 µm and 6.5 µm, respectively. This is consistent with brake wear and road dust size ranges previously reported.

Laboratory and on-road testing for brake wear particle emissions: a review.

Brake wear emission is a significant contributor to vehicle-related particulate matter, especially in areas with high traffic density and braking frequency. Only recently, non-exhaust emissions from car brake wear have been regulated under Euro 7 regulation, which introduces emission limits for both brake and tires. It also introduces a standard brake particle assessment procedure which includes sampling procedure and measurement techniques defined in the Global Technical Regulation on brakes from light-duty vehicles up to 3.5 t. Over the years, various experimental setups have been tried leading to non-comparable results. The brake wear particle emissions, expressed as emission factors, are mostly estimated as particle mass or particle number and described using different units (e.g., mg/stop brake, mg/km brake; particle number/cm3) making the comparison between studies very difficult. The aim of the present literature review is to present the state-of-the-art of different experimental methods tuned for assessing brake wear emissions, including electric vehicles. The experiments are carried in close, semi-closed, and open systems, and depending on the experimental design, different sampling methods are applied to reduce particle transport loss and guarantee the efficiency of the particle sampling. Driving condition (e.g., speed and applied pressure), formulation of brake materials, and friction temperature have been found to strongly affect the emission characteristics of brake particles, and this needs to be considered when designing study procedures. The findings reported in this review can be beneficial to policy makers and researchers.

Quantifying the change of brake wear particulate matter emissions through powertrain electrification in passenger vehicles.

With vehicle fleets transitioning from internal combustion engines (ICE) to electric powertrains, we have used friction brake power simulations, for different vehicle classes and driving styles, to predict the impact of regenerative braking systems (RBS) on brake wear particulate matter emissions (PM10 and PM2.5). Under the same powertrain, subcompact (SC) vehicles were predicted to require between 38 and 68% less friction brake power than heavier sports utility vehicles (L-SUV). However, despite electric and hybrid vehicles being heavier than ICE vehicles, the results show that RBS would reduce brake wear by between 64 and 95%. The study highlights the effect of aggressive braking on the amount of friction brake power required, with electric powertrains more likely to require friction braking to perform short, but aggressive braking compared with longer, slower braking events. Brake wear reductions varied under different driving conditions, as the level of mitigation depends on the complex interaction of several variables, including: vehicle speed, deceleration rate, regenerative braking technology and vehicle mass. Urban brake wear emission factors for electric powertrains ranged from 3.9 to 5.5 mg PM10/km and 1.5-2.1 mg PM2.5/km, providing an average reduction in PM emission factors of 68%. Rural and motorway driving conditions had lower brake wear emission factors, with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV) emitting negligible PM10 and PM2.5 brake wear. Although electric powertrain uptake, vehicle mileage driven and driving styles are dependent upon national policies and strategies, by 2035, we project that total UK brake wear PM emissions would reduce by up to 39% compared with 2020 levels. This analysis supports the transition towards electric and hybrid vehicle fleets to reduce brake wear emissions, however increases in tyre wear, road wear, and resuspension due to increased vehicle mass may offset these benefits.

Evidence of non-tailpipe emission contributions to PM2.5 and PM10 near southern California highways.

Particulate Matter (PM) concentrations near highways are influenced by vehicle tailpipe and non-tailpipe emissions, other emission sources, and urban background aerosols. This study collected PM2.5 and PM10 filter samples near two southern California highways (I-5 and I-710) over two weeks in winter 2020. Samples were analyzed for chemical source markers. Mean PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations were approximately 10-15 and 30 µg/m3, respectively. Organic matter, mineral dust, and elemental carbon (EC) were the most abundant PM components. EC and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons at I-710 were 19-26% and 47% higher than those at the I-5 sites, respectively, likely due to a larger proportion of diesel vehicles. High correlations were found for elements with common sources, such as markers for brake wear (e.g., Fe, Ba, Cu, and Zr) and road dust (e.g., Al, Si, Ca, and Mn). Based on rubber abundances, the contributions of tire tread particles to PM2.5 and PM10 mass were approximately 8.0% at I-5 and 5.5% at I-710. Two different tire brands showed significantly different Si, Zn, carbon, and natural rubber abundances.

Emissions of multiple metals from vehicular brake linings wear in China, 1980-2020.

Metals emitted from brake linings wear have adverse effects on air quality and human health due to their toxicity and reactivity. However, complexities of factors affecting brake like conditions of vehicles and roads hinder the accurate quantification. Here, we established a comprehensive emission inventory for multi-metals from brake linings wear in China during 1980-2020, based on metals contents in well-representative samples, the wear of brake linings before replacement, vehicle populations, fleet composition, and vehicle-kilometers travelled (VKT). We show that with the boom of vehicle population, the total emissions of studied metals have surged from 3.7 × 106 g in 1980 to 4.9 × 1010 g in 2020, which mainly concentrated in coastal and eastern urban areas while grown significantly in the central and western urban areas in recent years. Therein, Ca, Fe, Mg, Al, Cu, and Ba were the top six metals emitted, together responsible for >94 % of the mass total. Jointly determined by brake linings especially metals contents thereof, VKTs, and vehicle populations, heavy-duty trucks, light-duty passenger vehicles, and heavy-duty passenger vehicles were the top three contributors in metals emissions, together accounting about 90 % of the total. Moreover, more precise description on real-world metals emissions from brake linings wear are still urgently needed, considering the increasingly significant role it has been playing on worsening air quality and public health.

Biological effects of brake wear particles in mammalian models: A systematic review.

Road traffic is a major contributor to air pollution through aerosols both from exhaust emissions (EE) and non-exhaust emissions (NEE). NEE result from mechanical abrasion of brakes and tires, erosion of road surfaces and resuspension of road dust into the atmosphere by passing traffic. EE have been thoroughly studied and have decreased over time due to a stricter control. On the other hand, NEE have not received such attention and there is currently no legislation to specifically reduce NEE particles. Consequently, NEE relative part has become prevalent, potentially making of these emissions a major human health concern. The aim of this systematic review was to provide an overview of the current state of knowledge on the biological effects of brake wear particles, a type of NEE. To this end, we conducted a bibliographic search of two databases (PubMed and Web of Science) on June 1, 2023, focusing on the toxicological effects of brake wear particles induced in vitro and in vivo. We excluded reviews (no original experimental data), papers not written in English, studies performed in non-mammalian models and papers where no toxicity data were reported. Of the 291 papers, 19 were found to be relevant and included in our analysis, confirming that the assessment of the brake wear particles toxicity in mammalian models is still limited. This review also reports that brake wear particles can induce oxidative stress, proinflammatory response and DNA damage. Finally, some perspectives for further research and measures to mitigate the risk of brake wear emissions are discussed.

Alteration of Hordeum vulgare and Sinapis alba germination and early growth in response to airborne low-metallic automotive brake wear debris.

Road transportation significantly contributes to environmental pollution, both in terms of exhaust and non-exhaust (brake wear) emissions. As was proven, brake wear debris is released in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and compositions. Although studies confirming the possible adverse health and environmental impact of brake wear debris were published, there is no standardized methodology for their toxicity testing, and most studies focus only on one type of brake pad and/or one test. The lack of methodology is also related to the very small amount of material released during the laboratory testing. For these reasons, this study deals with the mixture of airborne brake wear debris from several commonly used low-metallic brake pads collected following the dynamometer testing. The mixture was chosen for better simulation of the actual state in the environment and to collect a sufficient amount of particles for thorough characterization (SEM, XRPD, XRF, chromatography, and particle size distribution) and phytotoxicity testing. The particle size distribution measurement revealed a wide range of particle sizes from nanometers to hundreds of nanometers, elemental and phase analysis determined the standard elements and compounds used in the brake pad formulation. The Hordeum vulgare and Sinapis alba were chosen as representatives of monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants. The germination was not significantly affected by the suspension of brake wear debris; however, the root elongation was negatively influenced in both cases. Sinapis alba (IC50 = 23.13 g L-1) was more affected than Hordeum vulgare (IC50 was not found in the studied concentration range) the growth of which was even slightly stimulated in the lowest concentrations of brake wear debris. The plant biomass was also negatively affected in the case of Sinapis alba, where the IC50 values of wet and dry roots were determined to be 44.83 g L-1 and 86.86 g L-1, respectively.

Brake wear-derived particles: Single-particle mass spectral signatures and real-world emissions.

Brake wear is an important but unregulated vehicle-related source of atmospheric particulate matter (PM). The single-particle spectral fingerprints of brake wear particles (BWPs) provide essential information for understanding their formation mechanism and atmospheric contributions. Herein, we obtained the single-particle mass spectra of BWPs by combining a brake dynamometer with an online single particle aerosol mass spectrometer and quantified real-world BWP emissions through a tunnel observation in Tianjin, China. The pure BWPs mainly include three distinct types of particles, namely, Ba-containing particles, mineral particles, and carbon-containing particles, accounting for 44.2%, 43.4%, and 10.3% of the total BWP number concentration, respectively. The diversified mass spectra indicate complex BWP formation pathways, such as mechanical, phase transition, and chemical processes. Notably, the mass spectra of Ba-containing particles are unique, which allows them to serve as an excellent indicator for estimating ambient BWP concentrations. By evaluating this indicator, we find that approximately 4.0% of the PM in the tunnel could be attributable to brake wear; the real-world fleet-average emission factor of 0.28 mg km-1 veh-1 is consistent with the estimation obtained using the receptor model. The results presented herein can be used to inform assessments of the environmental and health impacts of BWPs to formulate effective emissions control policies.

Contributions of non-tailpipe emissions to near-road PM2.5 and PM10: A chemical mass balance study.

As the importance of non-tailpipe particles (NTP) over tailpipe emissions from urban traffic has been increasing, there is a need to evaluate NTP contributions to ambient particulate matter (PM) using representative source profiles. The Brake and Tire Wear Study conducted in Los Angeles, California in the winter of 2020 collected 64 PM2.5 and 64 PM10 samples from 32 pairs of downwind-upwind measurements at two near-road locations (I-5 in Anaheim and I-710 in Long Beach). These samples were characterized for inorganic and organic markers and, along with locally-developed brake wear, tire wear, and road dust source profiles, subject to source apportionment using the effective-variance chemical mass balance (EV-CMB) model. Model results highlighted the dominance of resuspended dust in both PM2.5 (23-33%) and PM10 (32-53%). Brake and tire wear contributed more to PM2.5 than tailpipe exhausts (diesel + gasoline) for I-5 (29-30% vs. 19-21%) while they were comparable for I-710 (15-17% vs. 15-19%). For PM10, the brake and tire wear contributions were 2-3 times the exhaust contributions. Different fleet compositions on and near I-5 and I-710 appeared to influence the relative importance of NTP and exhaust sources. The downwind-upwind differences in source contributions were often insignificant, consistent with small and/or nearly equal impacts of adjacent highway traffic emissions on the downwind and upwind sites. The utility of sole markers, such as barium and zinc, to predict brake and tire wear abundances in ambient PM is evaluated.

Determining factors and parameterization of brake wear particle emission.

Brake wear emission contributes to an increasingly significant proportion of vehicle-related particulate matter, but knowledge of its emission features and determining factors is still highly insufficient. Here, brake dynamometer experiments were conducted under controlled variables tests and real-world driving conditions to systematically investigate brake wear particle (BWP) emission. Compared to the decelerating process, the separating of pads and disc releases more BWPs, accounting for 47-76% of the total PM2.5 mass. Particle number and mass distributions exhibit bimodal (< 0.01 µm and 0.8-1.2 µm) and unimodal (2-5 µm) patterns, respectively. Larger speed reduction exponentially amplifies BWP emission, and the significant enhancement of nanoparticles is proved to be related to the evaporation of organic constituents in the pads with threshold ranging from 170 °C to 270 °C. Emissions from front and rear brake assemblies don't agree with braking torque distribution, mainly attributive to the different braking pressures. A parameterization scheme for BWP emission based on kinetic energy loss is further established and proved to sufficiently predict the variation of BWP under real-world driving conditions. Being corrected by 1.8th power of the initial speed, the scheme improves the prediction.

PM10 prediction for brake wear of passenger car during different test driving cycles.

PM10 emissions generated from the brake wear of passenger car per braking event during three test driving cycles (WLTP, LACT, and WLTP-Brake) were studied using a finite element analysis (FEA) approach in combination with the relationship among the mass emitted rate of airborne particles versus local contact pressure and sliding speed. In addition, PM10 emissions were measured per braking event during the WLTP-Brake cycle on a brake dynamometer using an electrical low-pressure impactor (ELPI+) to validate the proposed FEA approach. The simulated and experimental results for WLTP-Brake illustrated that the proposed simulation approach has the potential to predict PM10 from brake wear per braking event, with an R2 value of 0.93. The FEA results of three test driving cycles showed that there was a gradient rise in pad wear on both sides from the inner to outer radii. The simulated PM10 emission factors during the WLTP, LACT, and WLTP-Brake were 7.9 mg km-1 veh-1, 9.8 mg km-1 veh-1, and 6.4 mg km-1 veh-1, respectively. Among three test driving cycles, the ratio of PM10 to total brake wear mass per braking event was the largest for the LACT, followed by WLTP and WLTP-Brake. From a practical application perspective, reducing the frequency of high-speed braking may be an effective way to decrease the generation of PM10 emissions.