Safran Landing Systems has been manufacturing C/C brake discs for decades and has continuously innovated its processes, integrating multiple steps to save time and costs, while reducing emissions and energy consumption in the process of expanding its market share.

Safran Landing Systems manufactures carbon/carbon (C/C) brake discs for aircraft brakes.

This blog compiles information on carbon fiber reinforced carbon (C/C) brake discs for aircraft, which are publicly available from Safran Group (Paris, France). The company released a video earlier this year (see below) that gradually shows the manufacturing process. C/C brake discs remain one of the highest-volume applications of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs), but this is changing as demand grows in industrial and aerospace end uses. After visiting Brembo's factory near Bergamo, Italy, which produces C/C brakes for racing cars, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at Safran's production facilities, output and processing innovations, as well as its current sustainability initiatives.

With over 40 years of experience - having introduced C/C brake systems for the Airbus A310 as early as 1985 - Safran Landing Systems (Velizy-Villacoublay, France) claims to be the global leader in C/C brakes for aircraft with more than 100 seats. It is reported that the company supplies equipment for 55% of such commercial aircraft worldwide, serving over 500 airlines and 1,500 military programs. The company's carbon brake production bases are located in three places: Villeurbanne near Lyon, France, Walton in Kentucky, south of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and Sendayan in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The company is also building a fourth factory about 30 minutes east of Lyon, which is expected to be operational by 2030.

Carbon brakes are lighter, more efficient, and up to two to three times more durable than steel brakes. This helps operators reduce fuel consumption, costs, and carbon dioxide emissions. Safran reports that thanks to carbon/carbon brakes, the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions during flights is 10 times that of the emissions generated during brake manufacturing. The entire fleet can reduce hundreds of tons of emissions annually.

Global production

Safran Group announced at its long-standing Messier-Bugatti-Dowty factory in Villeneuve-Bornay that in 2023, the factory will produce 5,000 wheels and 6,000 sets of braking systems annually.

The Walton Factory is located in Kentucky and opened in 1999. It is reported that it produces nearly 140,000 carbon brake discs and over 9,500 wheels and brake components annually. The 350 employees of this factory support Boeing 737, 777 and 787 aircraft, Airbus A320 series, as well as C-17 and KC-135 military aircraft. The company announced an expansion plan in 2023, adding 92 new jobs and introducing new equipment and automation technologies to increase production.

The production base in Selangor, Malaysia, which started operations in 2015, will celebrate its 10th anniversary in January 2025. This base produces 350 metric tons of C/C composite materials annually, including approximately 80,000 new carbon brake discs. Every year, it also refurbishes over 15,000 heat dissipation components (i.e., thermal packs composed of multiple brake discs), and provides comprehensive support to 100-150 airlines in the region.

Carbon flywheel braking system

Each wheel of the aircraft landing gear is equipped with a braking device. The common configuration of carbon brakes consists of four rotating discs (rotors) and three or four stationary discs (stators) arranged alternately in a heat pack or heat chamber. The rotors are meshed with the transmission key of the wheel, thus rotating together with the wheel. The stators contain outward-facing end plates and a pressing plate at the other end of the stack (refer to the picture below).

During the braking process, the oil in the brake piston pushes the pressing plate to compress the rotor and the stator, causing them to adhere to the end plates. The resulting friction converts kinetic energy into heat energy, thereby reducing the rotational speed of the wheel. During landing, the C/C material rotors and stators can withstand temperatures of 700°C, while C/C brake discs can easily withstand temperatures above 1000°C. This heat resistance enables carbon brakes to maintain structural integrity while avoiding failure or performance degradation (such as brake fade).

SepCarb IV Long-Life Brake Pads

n April 2018, Safran collaborated with Airbus to install a new long-life carbon brake on the A320neo aircraft. This product, SepCarb IV brake, is the first C/C brake to be put into use since the release of Sepcarb III 15 years ago. This new 'long-life' brake features two major innovations: SepCarb IV carbon material and Anoxy 360 (a new system to prevent the oxidation of the brake disc). These innovations not only bring improvements during use but also solve the production rate enhancement problem faced by the A320neo during its manufacturing process at that time. (Note: According to the terminology requirements, 'Craft' is translated as 'production'; 'APR' is not present in the text and is therefore not processed; the proper nouns SepCarb IV/Sepcarb III/A320neo remain unchanged)

The C/C brake equipment production base located in Villeneuve-Batignolles, outside Lyon, France, developed a unique production method for the mass production of SepCarb IV under expanded industrial scale. This method integrates the solvent impregnation step of carbon fiber preforms with the damping or drying processes, which were originally separate, into a single set of equipment, thus eliminating intermediate operations, shortening production time and reducing costs.

SepCarb IV also uses ceramic particles to enhancethe wear resistance of the C/C brake, reducing the brake usage by 30%. This not only benefits aircraft operators but also further contributes to meeting the production rate of the A320neo. Safran also improved the process, reducing the nitrogen consumption during the heat treatment process and eliminating atmospheric emissions, collecting the process waste in liquid form.

In 2019, a second impregnator was added, and this process was subsequently promoted to other factories.

Carbon fiber (at the top) is used to make the needle-punched preform (in the middle), and then

after carbonization and infiltration into the carbon matrix, it eventually forms the carbon disc (at the bottom)

As stated in its video from July 2025, Safran's C/C brake disc manufacturing process consists of four main steps:

Production of carbon fiber preforms, including needle-punching of continuous fiber layers.

High-temperature carbonization of the preforms and densification of the carbon matrix through chemical vapor infiltration (CVI).

Machining of the discs and conducting quality assurance, including size inspection.

Final processing includes spraying and heat treatment of an oxidation protection coating, followed by assembling multiple discs into a C/C braking unit.

The new production base in Lyon, environmental protection goals

Safran Group is building a new carbon brake manufacturing plant in the PIPA industrial park near Lyon. The plant is scheduled to start production in 2030. By then, Safran Group's latest carbon-carbon brake production base will increase the company's total output by 25% by 2037. This 30,000-square-meter factory will be highly automated and initially employ approximately 100 workers. The number of employees will double when it operates at full capacity.

The company positions the Lyon factory as a zero-emission facility (Scope 1 and 2). Since energy costs can account for 30% of the total cost of carbon brake manufacturing, Safran Group chose the Lyon site precisely because of the availability of low-carbon electricity in the local area. The factory will also use biogas as a carbon-based precursor in the CVI process. As a result, the electricity and fuel consumption of this factory area will be reduced by nearly 30%, and water usage will be reduced by 80%. Moreover, the heat generated during the C/C production process will be recycled.

It is used in the heating network. Some of these technologies will also be put into use in other Safran Group C/C braking facilities.

Safran Group has committed to reducing its business activities' carbon emissions by approximately 50% compared to 2018 by 2030. In its 2025 ESG report, the company reported that the direct emissions of all its businesses in 2025 were reduced by 35% compared to 2018.

The Safran Landing Gear Systems company's factory in Semenyan, Malaysia, has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 27% since 2018. Specific measures include: recycling the exhaust gas emitted during the carbon plate production process to meet 20% of the power demand of the factory, and widely adopting variable frequency drives - this technology can adjust the motor speed (and energy consumption) according to the actual needs of the mechanical equipment. The factory also plans to implement a new power management system to monitor and optimize the comprehensive energy consumption of the factory (including electricity, fuel costs, and water resources). According to the communication in July 2024, the Sedarang base has signed a 21-year agreement with a local solar power generation enterprise, which will come into effect in 2026, increasing the proportion of renewable energy in the current power structure by another 10%. This is a supplement to the cooperation agreement signed with a local biomass power generation enterprise in 2023 - this cooperation has already met 30% of the base's electricity demand.

Extend the service life of C/C brake discs and reuse waste resources

The carbon brake disc refurbishment technology developed by Safran Landing Gear Systems over 30 years ago is another key measure for achieving emission reduction through circularity. Currently, approximately 30% of the brake discs delivered by the company to airlines are refurbished using this method.

Although the average lifespan of Safran's carbon brake discs varies depending on the aircraft model and operating conditions, it is not uncommon for them to undergo 2,000 to 2,500 landings between major overhauls. These brake discs are exposed to temperatures exceeding 1,000°C every day and eventually wear out - although much more durable than steel brake discs - and are retired before reaching the set limit (before complete wearout).

By refurbishing two worn brake discs, we obtained two half-discs, and then reutilized them to make a new disc,' explained Jean-Luc Noirjean, the product strategy manager of Safran Landing Gear Systems. 'The performance of these refurbished discs is exactly the same as that of a newly manufactured one. Airlines will provide heat sinks that have met regulatory limits. In return, we will send them a refurbished brake disc, which is what we call a standard exchange.'

Jean-Baptiste Lassalle, the head of the Wheel and Brake Department of Safran Landing Gear Systems, pointed out that 30% of the delivered brake discs are refurbished pieces, which means a reduction of 30% in carbon emissions. 'We established this process in the mid-1990s for the Airbus A300, A310, and A320 projects to reduce manufacturing costs... But it also stimulated a virtuous circular economy momentum in our operations.'

In the future, Safran Landing Gear Systems will explore new methods to recycle these refurbished aircraft brake discs and use them in other industries after their lifespan. At the same time, the company has implemented multiple waste reduction projects. 'We developed a manufacturing process that uses the fibers not used in the production process (about half of our purchased fiber volume) to make felt,' Lassalle said. 'This felt produced by the partner company can be used as insulation material for our furnaces.' We have also established a system for recycling the processing dust generated during the production of carbon discs [for use by] cement production plants. More broadly, the projects we are undertaking aim to minimize material waste throughout the production cycle.'

Lassalle said that these environmental initiatives and the acceleration of the circular economy have made the organization increasingly systematic and structured. 'Last year, we established a dedicated position to integrate product life cycle and carbon emission assessment methods. This position is also committed to enhancing the recyclability of products. The more such initiatives we develop, the more we can pave the way for new economic models that fully integrate the principles of the circular economy.'

Digital transformation, future growth

Safran Group has also implemented a series of digital transformation initiatives, including the use of RPA (Robotic Process Automation) software to handle repetitive daily tasks, and the adoption of collaborative robots, augmented reality and automated equipment to accelerate production. The company has also integrated health monitoring and predictive maintenance technologies into product systems such as brakes, while continuously exploring the application paths of AI technology. For example, Safran Landing Systems collaborated with its machine programming partner MHAC Technologies (Ecully, France) to standardize and automate the 3D measurement and processing of carbon brake discs. By applying machine learning technology, the team reduced the number of processing procedures required for different brake discs from over 100 to several dozen, and further improved production efficiency.

Due to the continuous growth in the demand for high performance, low fuel consumption and low emissions in the fleet modernization process, the demand for carbon brakes is also increasing. Therefore, production needs to be continuously enhanced. This growth trend can be seen from the forecast shown in the 'Global CMC Market Report' released by the Ceramic Composites Network in 2023. Denny Schüppel, the managing director of Ceramic Composites Network, pointed out that Safran Landing Systems is just one of the several manufacturers of carbon/carbon (C/C) brake pads for aircraft, and the application of carbon/carbon materials in non-aerospace braking fields is also growing rapidly.

he 2023 CMC market report also includes a table showing the number of heating packs for each aircraft model, and it indicates that based on the number of landings per day, most aircraft will replace their heating packs every 4 to 18 months. Approximately 50% of all C/C aircraft brakes will undergo a second life cycle. Schuppel stated that the updated version of the global CMC market report is planned to be released in March 2026.

Carbon fiber reinforced carbon heat pack (reproducible with permission from SGL Carbon SE) and Table 5 from 'Life Cycle Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Potential of Carbon/Carbon Wheel Brakes in Medium-sized Aircraft'

Schuelper was also a co-author of an article published in November 2025, which further explored the production and refurbishment processes of C/C thermal reactors. Through a life cycle assessment (LCA), it compared the significant weight reduction and fuel savings achieved by these reactors. The report states: 'Even in the most unfavorable combination of C/C application scenarios, the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions are lower than those of the most favorable metal material application scenarios.'

原文，《Safran carbon-carbon aircraft brakes: New process, production sites, environmental achievements》 2025.11.19