The pedal box area has historically been one of the most crowded sections of our vehicle, with limited space and overlapping components. To support the introduction of an adjustable pedal box, I began by modeling key components in SolidWorks, including:
- Balance bar assembly.
- Master cylinders
- Fluid reservoirs
- Brake pedal with pedal face
- Banjo bolts and fittings
- Quick-disconnect couplings
- Over-travel switch and custom mounting tab
Key Improvements:
- Reversed master cylinder orientation to face the driver, freeing up space near the front bulkhead and anti-intrusion plate
- Re-routed brake lines to eliminate tension during pedal actuation
- Redesigned over-travel switch tab, improving weld strength and preventing false activations experienced in previous seasons
Pedal Validation:
- Converted pedal requirements into a defined structural load case and confirmed the pedal meets the 2000 N minimum force requirement.
- Performed static structural FEA in ANSYS on a 7075 aluminum brake pedal.
- Reported key results
- Maximum von Mises stress = 60,179 psi
- Minimum FOS = 1.21
- Identified peak-stress regions from FEA and used the findings to guide geometry refinement to reduce stress concentrations before fabrication.
These changes improved space utilization, driver ergonomics, and subsystem integration while addressing reliability issues found in earlier designs.
