Cars in today's world are equipped with safety features, as the infrastructure of the country is improving the conveyance through roads has increased over few years, and to ensure complete passenger safety, companies are considering these features to be very important. One such safety feature that you will find it more common is ANTI-LOCK BRAKING SYSTEM(ABS). The explanation of the system is divided precisely for easy understanding.
1)BASIC WORKING
2)ADVANTAGE
3)DISADVANTAGES
1)Basically anti-lock means it prevents locking of the wheel, when you brake suddenly. Sudden and heavy braking will cause the wheel of your vehicle to lock which will tend to skid your vehicle, because the momentum of the vehicle is more than the braking force.
The brakes used in cars are controlled by hydraulic pressure, when you brake the oil pressure pushes the piston, which pushes the brake pad to push against disc(which we call disc brake now a days) which reduces the disc speed and thus reduces wheel speed. Applying brakes will supply a constant oil pressure, so the brake pad will continuously be sticked to the disc which will result in a brake lock which will indeed lock your wheel.
ABS helps to prevent such a situation. It is a electronic device and is connected to the electronic control module(ECM), the ABS works on the sensor placed near the wheels. When the brake pedal is pressed the wheel speed is sensed by the sensor.The sensor senses the speed of the wheel and sends a signal to the ECM ,the ECM regulates the hydraulic pressure which is sent to the brake, through the master cylinder. When brake is suddenly applied the pressure is higher than normal, so here to prevent the brake lock the ABS system orders the master cylinder (master cylinder is a component of the braking system which is responsible for pressurizing the oil for effective braking) to release the pressure of the oil intermittently, which results in application of brakes and releasing of brakes many times in second. In most ABS system the pressure is applied and released for 30 times in a second. Such precision enables better control of the vehicle.
Most cars comes with EBD(electronic brake force distribution) along with ABS.EBD can also be called as a sub-system of ABS. EBD controls the brakes force electronically to all the wheels. The main use of EBD is to divide the braking force linearly among front and rear wheels, for the reason that the front wheels have more braking force than the rear, hence to prevent lock up of rear wheel EBD is also provided.
The importance of ABS is more on highways where the car travels at an average speed of 70-90 km/hr than the city roads.ABS also refers to the driving style of the person and adaptability to the system.
COMPONENTS OF ABS SYSTEM:-
1.Speed sensors.
2.Pump.
3.Valve.
4.Controller.
These are the major components with which the ABS system work
1.Speed sensors:- They are located near the wheels and sometimes also in the differential of the vehicle.Sensors sense the speed of the wheel and sends the signal to ECM.
2.Pump:- Pump builds up the hydraulic pressure required for braking.
3.Valve:-Valve releases the hydraulic pressure when ECM sends a signal to release the braking force.Pump and valve works alternately, to build and release the brake pressure during the working of ABS system.
4.Controller:-Controller is basically ECM which is pre-programmed with the information for working of the system.It receives the information from wheel sensors and controls the pump and the valve for the functioning of ABS.
2)With ABS vehicle has better control and stays on the surface, on surfaces like RCC and TAR the stopping distance reduces on ABS equipped cars than normal cars, while on gravel and other uneven surface the braking distance may increase to cope up with directional stability of the vehicle, but the car will stick to its track. ABS has proven its worthiness on wet and slippery surfaces also where the car maintains it stability under heavy braking and does not slip off the road.
Reports say that accident on road has decreased by 18% with presence of ABS in cars.
35% of accidents reduced when vehicle driving off road.
3)Disadvantage of the system is that extra bucks have to be paid for equipping the car with ABS, it isn't a standard feature in all the cars.
Stopping distance is a concern some times, when on slippery surfaces to maintain stability of the car the car may dash into the front vehicle because of more braking distance.
Configuration of the system is very important, if the system isn't properly configured it may not effectively work under adverse circumstances. We have cars in market which are equipped with ABS, but due to poor configuration hasn't been successful to prevent accidents.
Concluding it can be said that ABS has its own importance and is sure to be a standard feature in all the future cars.
"Reports say that accident on road has decreased by 18% with presence of ABS in cars.
ReplyDelete35% of accidents reduced when vehicle driving off road."
which reports? and where do the facts come from?
As the editor of the blog Car's Paradise, i have attend many technical workshop which also included reports of safety for vehicles in India.In one of the interactive sessions i came to know about the fact.Also i mentioned that will ABS be a mandatory safety feature in India for all the vehicles.The experts have commented, that they are on a survey of how many real time accidents have been prevented due to ABS.After the completion of the survey they will come to a decision.
ReplyDeleteIn the above description of ABS and pros&cons of it u have mentioned that breaking force is more on front wheels than on rear wheels,can u please tell me the exact reason for that
ReplyDeleteDear Prasad,
ReplyDeleteAs your car decelerates, weight is transferred from the rear to the front tyres. This weight transfer reduces the amount of braking force the rear tyres can produce. Apply too much braking to the rear wheels will cause locking up of the rear wheels,causing the rear end to lose traction and possibly swing around violently.