“…Evidence of thermal cracks has been observed in railway brakes (Dow (1980), Fec andSehitoglu (1985)), mechanical seals (Netzel (1980), Kennedy and Karpe (1982)) and automotive brakes (Anderson and Knapp (1989). High temperatures are another consequence of the high local heat flux, which also has been reported in the railway brake (Van Swaay (1969), Ho et al (1974), Wentenkamp andKipp (1976), Van Swaay (1979), Hewitt and Musial (1979)). Investigations have been carried out to improve the performance of the brake system primarily through lowering the surface temperatures.…”