Evaluation of Accelerator Pedal Strength under Critical Loads Using the Finite Element Method

The core idea of the research consists in a formulation of boundary conditions of a mechanical accelerator pedal’s strength in an Ansys environment, whose conditions are equivalent to full-scale tests under the critical loads defined by the UNECE’s Regulation No. 13. The lack of regulatory requirements for the strength of pedal types other than brake pedals is a major gap in vehicle certification, especially when it comes to agricultural machinery. In such cases, the authors suggest being guided by UNECE R 13 regarding the strength of the accelerator and other types of pedals and checking their behavior under loads of at least 1000 N. The real value of the yield strength of the material (Silumin 4000) is very important, both in the physical real-life experiments and in FEA simulation. The critical case of a short-term shock loading of the pedal in its extreme position has been considered separately. With the help of the Ansys Explicit Dynamics module, results of a pedal’s behavior were obtained; it lost its integrity and suffered destruction. It is also necessary to check the intermediate stress values depending on the loads for direct and hybrid tasks using the Transient Structural module in order to estimate other critical cases of the pedal behavior.