5/8/2017 ProportioningValves

BrakeProportioningValves
TheTrueStoryofaMisunderstood,MisusedandMisnamedBrakeSystemComponent
byJamesWalker,Jr.ofscRmotorsports

Elsewhereonthiswebsitewehavediscussed(inpainfuldetailsomewouldadd)theimportanceoffronttorearbias,orbrakebalance,andhowitsoptimizationcanleadtobetterbrakingperformance.However,onecriticalfactorinestablishingbiasthe
mechanicalbrakepressureproportioningvalvewasleftoutofthediscussion.Afterall,onecanonlytakesomuchofthisbrakebiastalkinonesitting.

Thatsaid,wearebacktosharetheintricaciesofjusthowbrakepressureisdistributedtothefrontandrearofthevehicle.Moreimportantly,wehopethatyoutakeawaytheunderstandingthatreplacing,modifying,orjustplainfiddlingwithyour
proportioningvalvecandomoreharmthangood.Whileitisnotquiteblackmagic,thereareplentyofopportunitiestothrowthesystemintodisarraywithoutevenknowingit.

Consequently,weofferthisquicklookintothesedevicesandtheirmechanicalsiblings.Asmallamountofknowledgecanyieldsurprisingbenefits,nottheleastofwhichisavoidingnastysurprises.

RearBrakePressureControl
Ingeneral,therearethreewaystodealwithrearbrakepressure:leaveitalone,makeitproportionaltothefrontbrakepressure,orcontrolitinawaythatcombinesthesetwostrategies.

Strategy1:LeaveitAlone
Ifnodevicewereusedtomodifytherearbrakepressure,thenasshowninFigureA,thefrontbrakepressureandrearbrakepressurewouldalwaysbeequal.Naturally,thisistheeasiestwaytodealwiththeissue,butinordertopreventrearbiasunder
allconditions,therearbrakeitselfwouldneedtobeabsolutelytiny.

Asyoucanimagine,thisisnotarealisticsolutionandisnotfoundintherealworld.

Strategy2:TrueProportioning
Trueproportioning,asshowninFigureB,wouldresultinrearbrakepressuresbeinglinearlyproportionaltofrontbrakepressuresunderallconditions.Ironicasitmayseem,proportioningvalvesdonotprovidethiskindofcontrol,astheyarenotthe
purelyproportionaldevicestheirnamewouldimply.

Thistypeofpressureregulationiscertainlypossibletoachieve,butittypicallyrequirestandemmastercylindersandanadjustablereactionlinkage,thesamesetupfoundonnearlyeverypurposebuiltracingcartoday.

Onvehiclessoequipped,theproportioningratioisachievedthroughacombinationofmastercylinderpistondiameterselectionandtheadjustmentofamechanicalreactionlinkagethatconnectsthetwomastercylinders.Alsoknownasabiasbar,the
linkagegeometrydeterminesthefronttorearforcedistributioncomingfromthebrakepedalassembly.Thesignificantbenefittothissetupisthatabiasbarcanbedesignedinsuchawaythatthedrivercanadjustthefronttorearproportioningratio
whileatspeed.

Intheexampleshownbelow,anadjustmentofthebiasbarof0.010inchesresultsinanincreaseinfrontmasterinputcylinderforcefrom125lbto133lb.Atthesametime,therearmastercylinderinputforcedropsfrom125lbto117lb.

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5/8/2017 ProportioningValves

Realtimedrivercontroloverbiasmakesadjustmentsforchangingtrackconditionsorfuelloadpracticallyeffortless.Thecomplexityofthisdesignmakesithighlyimpracticalforstreetuse,butontrackitsimplycannotbebeatforeaseofadjustment.

CombiningStrategiesTheMisnamedProportioningValve
Conventionalproportioningvalvesshouldreallybereferredtoasbrakingforceregulatorsorbrakepressureregulatingvalves.Whiletheirnamemightimplytrueproportionalcontrol,inrealitytheyprovideacombinationofthecontrolfoundinFigures
AandB.

Uptocertainpressures,thesevalvesallowequalpressuretoboththefrontandrearbrakes(laFigureA).However,onceapresetpressurepointisreached(600psiintheexample),therearbrakepressurecontinuestobuild,butataslowerrate(or
slope)thanthefrontbrakepressure.FigureCdisplaysthisforusquiteclearly.

Lookingatthediagrams,onecanseethatitispossibletodesignbothaTypeBsystemandaTypeCsystemthatultimatelygivethesamebrakebalanceatthepointofmaximumdeceleration.(NotethatFiguresBandCbothgenerate950psiofrear
brakelinepressurewhenthefrontbrakelinepressureisat2000psi.)

However,onecanalsoseethatTypeCsystemsthosethatuseproportioningvalvescanbringusclosertooptimumbalanceatlowerdecelerationlevels.Thisbenefitisrelativelymeaninglessinaracingapplication,asthevehicleisalwaysoperatingat
maximumdecelerations,butitisofgreatadvantageonthestreet.

Insomanywords,theproportioningvalveallowsustodrivearoundtownunderoptimizedbrakebalanceconditions(goodforfrontbrakepadlife)butalsokeepseverythingincheckwhenweneedmaximumbraking(goodforstability).

Duetotheircompactsizeandrelativelylowcost,thesedevicescanbefoundonnearlyeveryvehiclewhichrequiresrearbrakepressurereductiontoachieveoptimumbrakebias.Typicalpassengercarsandproductionbasedracecarsfallneatlyintothis
category.

HeightSensingProportioningValves
Somevehiclesproportioningvalvesgoonestepfarther,asthekneepointonthegraphcanvarywiththeamountofweightontherearaxle.Effectively,astherearaxleweightincreases,alinkagebetweentheaxleandthebodyiscompressed.This
linkageactsonacaminsidetheproportioningvalvewhichincreasesthepreloadontheproportioningvalvespring.Theendresultisthatmorerearbraking(bias)isallowedasweightisaddedtotherearaxle,helpingtotakeadvantageoftheincreased
tractionnowavailableatthereartires.FigureDillustratesthisrelationshipquiteclearly.

So,CanOneAdjustTheProportioningValve?

Believeitornot,innearlyallcasestheOEMvalvesarewellmatchedtotheoriginalbrakesystemandshouldnotbetamperedwith,astherearenopartsinsidethatareabletobemodifiedbyambitiousowners.Unfortunately,someareexternally
adjustable,sothetemptationtotinkerisrightthereinfrontofus!

Onepointtoponderisthatbecausetheyareamechanicaldevice,proportioningvalvesmustbedesignedasabestcompromiseforuseunderallconditions.Highspeed,lowspeed,fullyloaded,andemptyvehiclescenariosmustallbeevaluatedand
figuredintotheproportioningvalvedesign.

Ofcourseifyouhavemodifiedyourvehicleinawaythatimpactsfronttorearbiasyoumightbestandingoutinleftfield!Asarefresherfromourbiasarticle,wewillbringforwardagainthelistsofmodificationswhichcaninfluencefronttorearbias.

Factorsthatwillincreasefrontbias

Increasedfrontrotordiameter
Increasedfrontbrakepadcoefficientoffriction
Increasedfrontcaliperpistondiameter(s)
Decreasedrearrotordiameter
Decreasedrearbrakepadcoefficientoffriction
Decreasedrearcaliperpistondiameter(s)
Lowercenterofgravity(i.e.loweredvehicle)
Moreweightonrearaxle(i.e.loaded)
Lessweightonfrontaxle
Lessstickytires(lowerdecelerationlimit)
Factorsthatwillincreaserearbias
Increasedrearrotordiameter
Increasedrearbrakepadcoefficientoffriction
Increasedrearcaliperpistondiameter(s)
Decreasedfrontrotordiameter
Decreasedfrontbrakepadcoefficientoffriction
Decreasedfrontcaliperpistondiameter(s)
Highercenterofgravity(i.e.raisedvehicle)
Lessweightonrearaxle(i.e.unloaded)

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Moreweightonfrontaxle
Morestickytires(higherdecelerationlimit)
ProportioningModifications
Wecouldstartthissectionbyclearlystatingthatyoushouldnotmodifyyourproportioningvalve.But,whatfunwouldthatbe?Inallseriousness,makingchangestotheproportioningvalvetoeffectbrakebiasshouldbelefttothosewiththepropertools
andmeasurementdevices,butifyouhavetweakedyourvehiclebeyondrecognition,thismaybeyouronlysolutiontorestoreasenseofproperbiastoyourbrakingsystem.

Wellstartherewiththreeofthemostbasicrulesregardingproportioningvalveinstallationandselection.

1.Ifyouhavethedeeplyrootedneedtoinstallyourownadjustableproportioningvalve,beadvisedthattheyshouldNEVERbeinstalledifthefactoryunitisstillinplace.Proportioningvalvesinserieswithoneanothercandonasty,unpredictablethings!

2.Ifyouhavethedeeplyrootedneedtoinstallyourownadjustableproportioningvalve,beadvisedthattheyshouldNEVERbeinstalledinlinetothefrontbrakes.Theeffectwouldbetomakeyourvehiclerearbiasedbeforeyoucouldsayterminal
oversteer.Frontbrakelinepressureshouldalwaysbeleftaloneonlytherearpressuresshouldbeconsideredforproportioning.

3.Inallcases,thebasicbrakesystembalanceneedstobeclosetooptimizedtostartwith.Thisistheonlywaythataproportioningvalvecanbeeffectivelyutilized.Youshouldneverassumethatsimplyaddingaproportioningvalvewilladdressallrear
biasconditions,aseventhebestproportioningvalvesmustbewellmatchedtothetargetvehicle.

ProportioningValveSelection
Selectingthecorrectadjustableproportioningvalveforyourvehicleentailsnotonlyselectingtheproperpointatwhichslopelimitingbegins(thekneepoint),butalsoselectingtheproperrateatwhichrearbrakelinepressurebuildsafterthatpoint(the
slope).Nearlyeveryadjustableproportioningvalveonthemarkettodayhasanadjustablekneepoint(thepointatwhichtherearbrakelinepressurebeginstobecontrolled),butafixedslope(therateatwhichitbuildsbeyondthekneepoint).Whileone
parameterisadjustable,botharecriticaltosystemperformance.NotethatinFigureEthetwocurveshavethesamekneepoint,buttheslopesvarygreatly.

Sohowdoesoneselecttherightkneepointandslope?Withoutthetestandmeasurementresourcesofamajorautomotivemanufacturer,itsnexttoimpossibletosay.Ofcourse,youcouldtrialanderroryourwayintoasolutionthatyoubelievetobe
appropriate,butwithouttestingunderallconditionsofloading,speed,androadconditionstheremightbeoneoperatingconditionjustwaitingtobiteyou.

Inshort,ifyoufindyourselfthinking,IwonderhowIwouldpicktherightproportioningvalveformycar?youprobablyshouldntbechangingityourself.

ElectronicProportioning:NoTamperingAllowed
Asasmallsidebartothemechanicalproportioningvalvediscussedhere,thereisamovementafoottoreplacetheproportioningvalvefunctionwiththehardwareperformingtheABSfunction.Whilethisisnotyetthenorm,mosthighendperformance
carsalreadyhavethisfeatureasstandardequipmentandonecanpredictwithreasonablecertaintythatthetrendwillcontinue.

BasedoninformationgatheredfromthefourABSwheelspeedsensors,theDynamicRearProportioning(DRP)orElectronicBrakeforceDistribution(EBD)algorithmscalculatethefronttorearslipratioofthefourtires.Then,givenpresetthresholdsand
parameters,theABShardwarecaninterveneandmodifythebrakepressuregoingtotherearwheelsautomatically.

BecauseDRPandEBDarebasedonactualwheelslipandnotonbrakelinepressure,thistypeofrearproportioningismoreflexibleandadaptabletomodificationsonemightmaketotheirvehicle.Itisalsolessexpensive,astheOEMcannowremovethe
mechanicalproportioningvalvefromthevehicleandreplaceitsfunctionwithotherhardwarealreadyonboard.

Naturally,theOEMdoesnotwantownersfiddlingwiththeirfronttorearproportioning,andasaresultthereisnowayfortheenthusiasttoreprogramDRPorEBDtosuittheirdesires.Ofcourse,ifthevehiclesoriginalfronttorearbiasisintactinthefirst
place,thereisnoneedtoreprogramanyway.

PlanWisely
Insummary,thereismoretotheproportioningvalvethanmeetstheeye.Youshouldmakeeveryattempttocarefullyplanandselectyourbrakemodificationssothatyouareabletoretainandreapthebenefitsofthestockproportioningvalve.Inother
words,payattentionto(anddontstraytoofarfrom)thefactorybiasinthefirstplaceandyouwillbeaheadofthegame.

Ifforotherreasonsyouareforcedtoscrapthestockunitandreplaceitwithanaftermarketunit,beadvisedthatselectionandadjustmentarenotfortheuninitiated.Whilethereismorethanonewaytoachieveoptimumbalanceatthepointofmaximum
deceleration,withouttherightamountofknowhowyoumightbemakingcompromisesunderpartialbrakingconditionsthatwerenotpresentwiththefactoryhardware.

Again,rememberthatsimplyaddingorreplacingaproportioningvalvemaynotbeenoughtoremedybasketcasebiasscenarios.Properplanningandupfrontdesignshouldensurethatthebasevehiclebiasisappropriatefromthestart,enablingthe
proportioningvalvetobeusedproperlyasafinetuningdevice.

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