Friction brake
Rail braking systems - Effort and energy dissipation

The friction brake always consists of three main components:

• a moving element ;

• a friction element, rubbing against the moving element;

• an actuator, bringing the friction element into contact with the moving element and applying a force to it.

Depending on the type of each of the above three elements, there are three families of friction brakes:

• shoe brake: the moving element is the wheel, to which the actuator applies a friction element consisting of a brake shoe;

• disc brake: the moving element is a brake disc, to which the actuator applies friction elements in the form of brake pads;

• electromagnetic rail brakes: the moving...