Background
During my Mechanical Engineering Degree, I gained extensive expertise in utilizing Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to evaluate the strength of various structures and materials. I have hands-on experience with both Solidworks and Ansys FEA software and have used them proficiently to generate the deformation diagrams displayed below.
In this FEA project, our objective was to create a bike pedal design and predict the Von Mises stress values that would result from the force exerted by a human leg on the pedal. We carried out stress analysis on each part of the design to identify the weakest point. The applied stress was represented using a color gradient, ranging from blue (indicating minimal force) to red (representing the maximum force).
Upon examining the full assembly, we observed that the stress gradient across all the parts was within acceptable limits. There were no red spots in the model, indicating that the assembly was designed to effectively distribute the forces so that no single part would bear the brunt of the stress.
When isolating the pedal arm, we observed that the most probable point of failure would be the top section, located to the right of the connection to the pedal rod. Despite the likelihood of failure at this point, the maximum force applied is only half of the yield strength of the part. This implies that the part has a safety factor of 2, indicating that it can withstand twice the force exerted on it before experiencing permanent deformation or failure.
The pedal rod, on the other hand, is most likely to fail to the left of the bearing. However, despite this, the pedal rod is even stronger than the pedal arm, with a safety factor of 5. This indicates that the pedal rod can withstand up to 5 times the maximum force of a human leg before experiencing any permanent damage or failure.
The pedal pad, which receives the maximum force, has a point of failure at its connection point. Similar to the pedal arm, it also has a safety factor of 2, meaning that it can withstand twice the force exerted by a human leg.
Using Ansys Workbench, I conducted a deformation analysis of a truss structure subjected to a load at nodes 5 and 1. The following images illustrate the deformation that would occur along the x-axis and y-axis, as well as which elements would bear the maximum load, represented by a color gradient ranging from blue (low stress) to red (high stress).
Total Deformation X-Axis:
Total Deformation Y-Axis:
Element Forces:
What I Learned
Throughout this project, I gained valuable experience in working with Solidworks and Ansys to simulate and analyze various stresses in different geometric structures.