The particulate matter emissions related to the braking of railway rolling stock are investigated using a reduced scale braking device. Samples of organic materials and cast iron discs are tested for different nominal contact pressures and disc surface temperatures, representative of real conditions. The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of braking conditions on the global amount of particles emitted, their distribution in number and size, and their morphological and chemical characteristics. To be representative, the tested conditions are designed to dissipate the same amount of energy for all the braking events by adjusting the pad application duration. The results show that for the same dissipated energy, a temperature increase above a transition value in the range of 230-280 ∘C depending on the braking conditions modifies the size and number distributions of the generated particles. The results obtained are of interest to better represent their propagation through CFD modelling according to the characteristic of the particle emission.
Keywords: Air quality; Airborne particles; Disc braking; Non-asbestos organic pads; Non-exhaust emissions; Railway.