Disc brakes, not only for railway applications but generally, count as safety components. Therefore, their reliability during
service is essential. Disc brakes are exposed to large thermal stresses during braking. In addition to substantial mechanical
forces, friction heat generation is extremely high. In heavy duty brake application, the heat flux at the interface is of the order
of MW/m2 [1,2]. The heat generated during braking causes temperature increase at the interface, which spreads fast through
the brake components. Such severe thermal processes modify friction properties of the materials in contact, cause wear and,
on a large scale, result in component deflection. All these changes inevitably affect brake performance and life.
A certain number of railway disc brakes, made of gray cast iron, shown the presence of cracks only after a few thousand
kilometers. To investigate the main causes of a brake disc failure, numerical analysis [3] was done, using ABAQUS software.
Numerical analysis resulted from a physical model of heat flux in dependence of braking time. Physical model was applied
considering all demands and presumptions given by industry representatives. Redesign of a brake disc was suggested and a
change of brake disc material to nodular cast iron has also been proposed. The selection of this material rather than other
cast iron materials with lamellar or vermicular graphite, which have better thermal conductivity, is based on its superior
toughness behavior, needed to endure the thermal elastic–plastic stresses around the yield strength [4].
Nodular cast iron is used for various industrial applications due to its favorable mechanical properties and low material
cost. The increased use of nodular cast irons concerns many applications, especially in automotive and non-automotive
transportation industries [5–7]. Because of the comprehensive application in the automotive industry, most experimental
data have been limited to nodular cast iron grades with application to automotive components and in the very high cycle
fatigue regime. Several other studies have been carried out with the aim to obtain properties of nodular cast iron. Kim
et al. [8] investigated high temperature degradation behavior of two types of heat resistant Si–Mo ductile cast iron with particular
attention paid to the mechanical properties and overall oxidation resistance. Tension and low-cycle fatigue properties