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BSD: THE TOP DEVELOPMENT OF KART’S BRAKING SYSTEM BY OTK KART GROUP

Max Bernardi

31 October 2018

Untreated materials, processing, technology, quality control ... These are all elements in which OTK has heavily invested to perfect the braking system that equips the Tony Kart, Kosmic, Exprit, FA Kart and Redspeed chassis

When developing a product that has already proven itself to be performant and high quality, it is necessary to concentrate on the details. OTK technicians are well aware of this. They worked on the project for the new BSD braking system, focusing on the quality of each component. The untreated material of the calipers and pump is Ergal, an aluminium alloy with high mechanical resistance properties, also used in the aeronautical field due to its low specific gravity. In addition to the material, the hard thickness anodizing treatment also increases wear resistance and maintenance intervals.

The brake calipers

The main idea behind the design of the new BSD braking system was to increase the stiffness of the caliper, making the material from a forged block

PRODUCTION PROCESS

The production process of the BSD system calipers begins with the moulding of the Ergal extruder, which takes place using presses exceeding 100 tons: the volume of the starting piece made of Ergal must correspond to the volume of the finished mould. For the actual moulding, the material is heated until it reaches a pasty state, it is inserted into the mould and, subsequently, pressed on several moulds to obtain a semi-finished product. At this point an aging heat treatment is carried out, which consists in allowing the component to cool slowly to increase its mechanical characteristics and surface hardness. The excess burrs are cut off and processed on C.N.C. machinery.
Starting from a forged piece has numerous advantages, first of all having the fibres of the material aligned during the various millings. In addition, less material is removed during processing, especially at critical points and, by not cutting the fibres, more mechanical strength and rigidity are ensured. This allowed the OTK technicians to reduce the size of the caliper while maintaining its mechanical resistance. This results in drier braking and greater performance stability on the track.

The brake calipers during the processing phases

After C.N.C processing, the calipers are subjected to an anodizing process which gives the final colour and also hardens the surface