Achieve precise braking response and repeatable stopping position.
Starlite’s proprietary-formulation friction materials.
From resin-molded winder brakes to today’s high-performance friction materials
Starlite pioneered the resin-molded winder brake for paper-making machinery in the late 1950s, enabling stable operation and higher line speeds—boosting productivity.
Built for severe operating conditions
We have continuously developed friction materials that perform under:
- High load
- Continuous sliding contact
- Reduced wear of the metal counterface
…while achieving long service life.
Biomass-derived resins: performance with environmental value
- In response to ESG and carbon-neutral initiatives, we are expanding friction materials based on biomass-derived resins to reduce dependence on petroleum-based feedstocks.
- Product lineup
- Holding brake materials, clutch & brake materials, drum brake materials
- FRISP (resin-molded): Designed to match your required friction level + machining/finishing to required shapes
- S-BEAR (injection-molded): stable braking, reduced part count, high heat/wear resistance
Resin-Molded Friction Materials
Proven for over 60 years. Asbestos-free.
Frisp Brake & Clutch 🔽
Injection-moldable polymer friction materials
that improve safety in collaborative robots (cobots) and motors.
S-BEAR Friction
Material 🔽
Lower environmental impact—without
compromising performance.
Biomass-Based Friction
Materials 🔽
Machined to your required shape.FRISP Resin-Molded Friction Materials
Proven in severe-duty applications, our friction materials have a strong track record in demanding applications such as large forging and sheet-metal press machines, overhead traveling cranes, and paper winder brakes. They offer high heat resistance, excellent wear resistance, and strong fade resistance—maintaining braking performance even under continuous duty. They are also effective for noise (squeal) reduction.
Grades
- #18850 (Standard): Designed for smooth, mild engagement, helping reduce shock to equipment while delivering stable torque performance.
- #18855 (High-performance at elevated temperature): Maintains stable torque even as temperature rises; a high braking-force grade.
- #86140 (High torque / low wear): Provides high torque with excellent low-wear performance.
Injection-Molded Friction Materials for Controlled Slip
- Material selection to match your needs—choose grades optimized for holding or braking requirements.
- High-volume manufacturing with S-BEAR injection-molded materials. We also support insert molding, enabling part consolidation and reduced part count.
- Available in thermoplastics, thermosets, and biomass-based materials.
- Exceptionally high flexural strength. Compared with off-the-shelf engineering plastics, many applications can be realized without metal reinforcement, enabling weight reduction and quieter operation.
- High heat and wear resistance, with a stable coefficient of friction even under temperature changes.
Equipment-friendly. Planet-friendly.
Biomass-Based Resin Friction Materials
X2101 (Biomass-Based Brake Friction Material)
X2101 is a newly developed brake friction material that shows minimal change in friction and wear performance as temperature varies, compared with conventional grades based on fossil-derived resins. This stability supports quiet operation and consistent holding torque and braking torque, making it a strong candidate for power-off (fail-safe) brakes used for holding and emergency stopping in collaborative robots (cobots)—a need expected to grow from large-scale factories to smaller workplaces.
In our testing, the static friction performance of X2101 remained almost unchanged from 25°C to 150°C, and its wear resistance (a durability indicator) was approximately 2× that of a conventional fossil-resin-based material (see Graph 1). As a result, X2101 significantly exceeds traditional high-temperature performance limitations and delivers stable holding and braking performance under a wide range of operating conditions.
Award: Recipient of the 72nd Industrial Technology Award presented by the Osaka Industrial Research Association (OIRA).
Key Features of X2101
- Uses a non-edible biomass-derived resin (Note 1)
- Delivers stable friction performance across a wide temperature range
- Enables quiet operation with stable holding/braking torque and low wear, supporting longer service life than conventional materials
- Thermoplastic-based material suitable for high-volume production by injection molding
