Composite brake disk and method of extending the braking service life thereof

A brake disk for mounting within a brake disk stack of an aircraft multi-disk brake assembly, said brake disk comprising in combination;

• a first composite brake disk having inboard-facing and outboard-facing brake wear surfaces;
• a second composite brake disk having inboard-facing and outboard-facing brake wear surfaces;
• and
• fastening means to clamp the first and second disks together in planar face-to-face orientation to form an integral brake disk;
• said integral brake disk exhibiting four braking wear surfaces, an inboard-facing and an outboard facing brake wear surface comprised of the first and second disks respectively for use during a first period of braking service and, an inboard-facing and an outboard-facing brake wear surface comprised of the second and first disks respectively for use during a second period of braking service.

A method of making and using a brake disk for two periods of braking service comprising the steps of:

• making a plurality of composite brake disks to a disk thickness of T/2 wherein T is the design required thickness;
• combining a first and a second of the disks together in planar face-to-face orientation with clamping means to form an integral brake disk, said integral brake disk exhibiting an inboard-facing brake wear surface comprised of a wear surface of the first disk and an outboard-facing brake wear surface comprised of a wear surface of the second disk;
• refurbishing the integral brake disk after a first period of braking service by declamping the first and second disks and grinding their worn brake wear surfaces to present planar surfaces;
• recombining the first and second disks in repositioned planar face-to-face orientation and clamping the disks together with fastening means to form a new integral brake disk, said new integral brake disk exhibiting an inboard-facing brake wear surface comprised of a wear surface of the second disk and an outboard-facing brake wear surface comprised of a wear surface of the first disk;
• and
• returning the new integral brake disk to a second period of braking service.

A method of providing carbon composite brake disks applicable to a brake disk stack as used in aircraft multi-disk brake assemblies such that a brake disk of the stack may be used for a first period of braking service and then refurbished and used for a second period of braking service without resorting to additional densification of the disk brake wear surfaces, the method comprising the steps of:

• manufacturing a plurality of carbon composite brake disks to a disk thickness of T/2 wherein T is the design required thickness;
• carbon densifying the brake wear surfaces of the disks to a depth "d" within the composition forming the disks;
• combining two disks of the plurality of disks in planar face-to-face orientation by clamping the disks together with fastening means to form an integral brake disk, a first of the disks providing an inboard-facing brake wear surface and a second of the disks providing an outboard-facing brake wear surface of the integral brake disk;
• subjecting the integral brake disk to a first period of braking service;
• refurbishing a worn integral brake disk after the first period of braking service by declamping the first and second disks which comprise the integral brake disk and grinding the worn brake wear surfaces to planar specifications;
• recombining the first and second disks by repositioning them in planar face-to-face orientation and clamping them together to form a new integral brake disk, the second of the disks providing an inboard-facing brake wear surface and the first of the disks providing an outboard-facing brake wear surface of the new integral brake disk;
• and
• returning the new integral brake disk to the brake disk stack for a new period of braking service.