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Truck air-actuated disc brake. An air brake or, more formally, a compressed-air-brake system, is a type of friction brake for vehicles in which compressed air pressing on a piston is used to both release the parking/emergency brakes in order to move the vehicle, and also to apply pressure to the brake pads or brake shoes to slow and stop the vehicle.
A comparatively simple brake linkage. In the air brake's simplest form, called the straight air system, compressed air pushes on a piston in a cylinder. The piston is connected through mechanical linkage to brake shoes that can rub on the train wheels, using the resulting friction to slow the train.
Air pump / Air compressor Westinghouse pump (US+) Powered by steam, it compresses air for operating the train air brake system. [3]: 2 The Westinghouse air brake system is used world-wide; [3]: 93 in Europe two systems that use the same principle are the Kunze-Knorr and Oerlikon systems. It can be a single-stage or, when larger capacity is ...
Also, since the brake pipe is typically used for control and supply of air to the cars, if an engineer is not careful, the air supply can be depleted. Further, since the engineer is only aware of the brake pipe pressure and flow of air into the brake pipe, it is not easy to know the state of the train brakes at any given time.
It is normally powered by air, but hydraulic power can be used too. The S-cam foundation brake is being used in over 85% of vehicles in the U.S. that run with air brakes. [1] S-cam's are only used with drum brakes because the cam pushes on the brakes which rubs against the rotating drum, and thus slowing the vehicle. [2]
Unlike air brakes, where a valve is opened and air flows into the lines and brake chambers until the pressure rises sufficiently, hydraulic systems rely on a single stroke of a piston to force fluid through the system. If any vapor is introduced into the system it will compress, and the pressure may not rise sufficiently to actuate the brakes.
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Air brake (aeronautics), a type of flight control system used on aircraft to reduce speed; On ground vehicles, (more formally, specified as) compressed-air-actuated braking systems: Air brake (road vehicle), friction-mediated type of brake used on large road vehicles in place of hydraulic brakes; Railway air brake (used on both locomotives, and ...