Century 3/Plus, LLC., a division of Century, Inc., has announced they will be designing and prototyping Aluminum Metal Matrix Composite Brake Drums (Al. MMC) for a commercial OEM.
Century’s light-weight Aluminum MMC drum is expected to save up to 100 lbs. per axle for commercial class 8 trucks. The significant weight savings will help fleet managers cope with the increasing emissions control regulations, reduced stopping distances requirements, and upcoming regulatory fuel efficiency standards. In addition to significant weight reduction, Century’s light-weight drum has a silicon carbide based Metal Matrix Composite at the wear surface area so the drum will last longer, stop shorter and perform better than cast-iron.
“There is a demand for light-weighting in the commercial truck market and this technology offers significant light-weighting on the wheel-end where it matters most. Fleet managers have trucks that ‘gross out’ before the ‘cube out’ and they need practical, significant weight reduction solutions,” says Jim McManus, Business Development Manager at Century, Inc. “The market is already using aluminum rims and aluminum hubs and this technology adds the final piece of the puzzle to light-weighting the wheel-end. I commend the leadership and the vision of the OEM who embraced this technology in their efforts to provide light-weight solutions to their customers,” McManus says.
The Aluminum MMC Commercial Prototype Drums are expected to be validated later this summer and delivered to the OEM for further validation and testing in September.
