The ADR Group is known globally as a manufacturer of axles and suspensions for agricultural machinery and equipment.
In reality, ADR also operates in the road and industrial fields as it specializes in the production of high-performance drum and disc brakes. The latest product in this sense is the new series of drum brakes for agricultural use "HP = High Performance".
To brake in emergency conditions a 20-ton three-axle trailer launched at 40 km/h requires a braking power of 830 horsepower, at least five times higher than what is needed to tow the same trailer on the road. If the following weight is 34 tons, the braking power rises to 1.360 horsepower, a performance superior to that of a current “Formula 1”. Deceleration must obviously be guaranteed regardless of the thermal regime of the brakes, groups which for this very reason are designed and tested by making them work even at temperatures of 500 degrees centigrade. If building an engine is therefore complex, building its opposite, i.e. a brake, is even more so, also because while an engine is made up on average of about 200 components, in brakes there are only about twenty.
The performance of a good brake is therefore closely linked to the quality of the basic design, to that of its construction and to that of the materials with which each component is built, those used to make the friction materials. It is no coincidence that all brake manufacturers invest a lot in studies and university collaborations to develop increasingly high-performance friction compounds, an objective that is even more important to be achieved the more the regulatory inputs governing the various areas of application grow and differ from each other.
ADR Group knows something in this sense, known globally for its axles and suspensions geared towards agricultural machines and equipment, but also a protagonist in the road transport and industrial sectors, all sectors that must be approached with dedicated groups and which therefore impose high standards of specialization at the design level. Above all when one tries to fine-tune groups which, like the brakes, directly affect the driving safety - one's own and that of others - of heavy vehicles whose maximum speeds range from a minimum of 40 to over 80 kilometers/hour.
Every vehicle wants its own brake
In fact, it happens that every vehicle wants its own brake, a problem that ADR has transformed into an opportunity by making improvements and up-grades gradually developed to meet the specific needs of this or that field available in all application areas of its brakes. The latest example in this sense is the new series of agricultural brakes "HP = High Performance”, designed by taking up the best construction solutions developed in the field of industrial brakes to develop products characterized by higher performance, great application versatility and low maintenance requirements.
Unlike traditional agricultural drum brakes, which are offered with cantilevered blocks fixed to a welded on the axle, the new "HP" brakes actually boast double rib blocks, design derived from industrial brakes, but which retain the adjustability of the positions of the braking masses with respect to the drum typical of agricultural brakes, a content that allows to optimize the braking action of the groups in a simple and direct way, without having to carry out complex disassembly or, worse, actual grinding operations. As mentioned, the result is superior braking power combined with equally superior stability of the geometry under stress and lower maintenance requirements with consequent minimization of the relative downtimes.
Another plus of the new “HP” series brakes is their versatility of use. The two models currently in the range, a "340x120" and a "406x120", together allow the use of rims whose diameters range from a minimum of 17.5 inches to a maximum of 30.5 inches, making them therefore suitable for equipping many trailers and the most used agricultural equipment in Europe.
Type-approved for speeds of 60 km/h
The brakes are also type-approved for speeds of 60 km/h and are compatible with all driving assistance systems on the market today, starting with the ABS, whose sensors can be installed easily and even where they were originally missing, up to the tire pressure adjustment sensors. The new “HP” series ADR brakes are in an advanced patent stage and are already available on the market.
Each sector has its brake
Among the companies headed by the ADR Group is also the French Sae-Smb Industries, which has been operating since 1947 in the sector of axles, suspensions and brakes for commercial road traffic. The simple or self-ventilated disc braking units produced by the company explicitly look at these uses. The Group can therefore offer both types of brakes, drum and disc, with equal expertise, advising its customers on one or the other objectively. From this point of view, it happens that with the same braking power and agricultural and industrial level, the drum brake is preferable to the disc one as the lower travel speeds and the absence of prolonged and continuous efforts do not justify the higher costs of the disc brakes.
These are also characterized by friction material actuation systems that are poorly protected against environmental aggressions, unlike drum brakes which by their very nature contain all their functional components inside.
» Source: MACCHINETRATTORI.INFO July/August 2023
