Mathematical Modeling and Optimization of Clutch Pedal Mechanism to Reduce Pedal Effort

Clutch pedal mechanism is used in all automobiles to engage and disengage power from engine to the transmission. Driving comfort is one of the most important factors affecting automobile comfort. Clutch pedal force and pedal motion stroke mainly affect the driving comfort. High clutch pedal effort is a customer dis-satisfier as this leads to high fatigue of operator and lesser productivity. So to reduce the clutch pedal effort with minimal cost, the linkages can be optimized by doing Design of Experiments (DOE) on different setting of linkages. Analysis (ANSYS workbench) model is generally used to calculate the pedal forces which are sometimes time consuming. An MATLAB based tool (mathematical model) was designed to calculate the pedal forces. The output of this is used in DOE to optimize the linkages. The results are also verified with output of analysis model. This helps in saving time and engineering cost.