McLaren F1 (Virtual) Build

[crosseyedlion]

Tonights progress so far:

It seemed a little long, so I measured from my heel to the ball of my foot and realised it could do with being 15mm shorter. So I took 15mm off it.

I've also run a basic bit of stress analysis, finding that if 6061 Aluminium is used theres a factor of safety of 1.12 if 300N (30.59kg) is applied at the pedal (meaning up to 300N before any yield, comfortably), I got a gain of 51N of strength by increasing the front rib by 1mm in depth - and it weighs 207.69grams. Quite acceptable for a clutch pedal.

I've also filleted all the bits a tool wouldn't physically be able to get into to make. So (in theory) I should be able to send this off to get CNC'd up should I please.

These bring up an important consideration in this process- I'm going to make sure they are all viable, useful parts. Even if that means small deviation from visual of the original parts.

I used this article here for some ballpark figures:
http://www.ekko.mk/modules/blog/datafiles/FILE_DF3...




And onto the brake pedal!

[alec.e]

Amazing project!
Once done, 3d print your own F1!

[Nunga]

alec.e said:

Amazing project!
Once done, 3d print your own F1!

That would be fantastic! Even if only parts of it.

[crosseyedlion]

I found an old study into brake pedal force, showing the 95th percentile maximum in an emergency situation to be 185lbs, which translates to 822N! Considerably more than the clutch pedal, as expected.

185lbs, is basically my bodyweight, 83kg. From sitting down, slowly lift yourself up using only 1 leg, this is the force going to the pedal...feels about right!

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/20...

I've Cadded up the pedal and it shows, with a load of 822N, a factor of safety of 1.2. Which is absolutely fine.



And these are the areas with a factor of safety less than 2.



With a pedal...


Interestingly, its around 3 times stronger than the clutch pedal, but only 363grams! An immensely strong design.

Edited by crosseyedlion on Monday 16th January 19:57

[Boydie88]

crosseyedlion said:

Boydie88 said:

Love this idea.

As a mechanical engineer with mid level skills in Catia, it has me tempted to try something similar.

Brilliant!

Any ideas on the car?

Might try my VX. Looking at finally getting a second car, would certainly be cool to have a theoretical 3D model of it when taking mine apart.

Edited by Boydie88 on Tuesday 17th January 09:04

[crosseyedlion]

More of the same tonight. I've altered the dimensions for a perfect 5:1 pedal ratio, used an AP racing pedal box drawing for dimensions.

I've also beefed up some sections of the brake pedal and tweaked it to take the total load before any yield to 1697N or 173kg (this does not mean the point at which the pedal will fail, just the point where elements MAY be damaged)

At least this means I'd know it'd work and could be used in anger should I ever decide to get them made.

Total weight for the brake pedal and arm is now 460grams.



I've also modified the clutch pedal arm in a similar manner, it can now take 56kg and weights 277grams

Edited by crosseyedlion on Tuesday 17th January 19:58

[xjay1337]

awesome awesome awesome.

The idea of having your own F1 made from bits you made would be amazing.

I genuinely hope someone at McLaren sees this project in 2 years when you've got every thing working and help make it all as a sort of throwback. Probably won't happen but here's hoping lol.

[crosseyedlion]

xjay1337 said:

awesome awesome awesome.

The idea of having your own F1 made from bits you made would be amazing.

I genuinely hope someone at McLaren sees this project in 2 years when you've got every thing working and help make it all as a sort of throwback. Probably won't happen but here's hoping lol.

Thanks!

It's evolving already, I'm not designing replica parts as I see them. But parts near the same aesthetically which I would be confident getting made and using (big difference) - I'm not going to use guesswork for the engineering. Getting into the mindset of the designers seems to be more important.

Hence the pedal design changing from that original image.

The worst case is I get them made and put them into a kit/project car

[killerferret666]

Cool project, I expect this will be a lot
Of fun especially once a lot of parts are being put together.

[PetrolAholic]

If you need any assistance in producing 3D models from 2D drawings send me a few over, Using 3D CAD has been my job for 12 years and am registered as a CAD professional. Just say what format you'd like it in

[Snubs]

crosseyedlion said:

It seemed a little long, so I measured from my heel to the ball of my foot and realised it could do with being 15mm shorter. So I took 15mm off it.

Just a thought, but if you measured your bare foot, perhaps the pedal was originally longer to take account of the heel of your shoe, lifting the ball of your foot up by roughly that amount?

Great project BTW

[crosseyedlion]

Snubs said:

crosseyedlion said:

It seemed a little long, so I measured from my heel to the ball of my foot and realised it could do with being 15mm shorter. So I took 15mm off it.

Just a thought, but if you measured your bare foot, perhaps the pedal was originally longer to take account of the heel of your shoe, lifting the ball of your foot up by roughly that amount?

Great project BTW

Yea, I realised the error of my ways and replicated the dimensions of an AP Racing pedal arm.

It's a learning process, but In the end I should end up with viable parts...

[DuncB7]

Love this already. Bookmarked.

Look forward to regular updates

ETA: did you use the FEA package in Solidworks for the renders earlier in the thread?

Edited by DuncB7 on Thursday 19th January 15:44

[crosseyedlion]

DuncB7 said:

ETA: did you use the FEA package in Solidworks for the renders earlier in the thread?

Edited by DuncB7 on Thursday 19th January 15:44

Thanks! You'll have to be patient though, I'm learning and trying to get things right at the same time. I've got a busy couple of weeks but the pedal box and the face of the front bulkhead should be modelled in couple of weeks.

Regarding FEA, I'm using the very basic package that came with Solidworks 2007 (Cosmo!?). I do have ANSYS, which is much more powerful, but I'm using a 5 year old laptop and fear progress will be demotivatingly slow. So I'm going to move onto that once the bulk of the car is done.

I imagine that the FEA in Solidworks 2007 is similar or slightly better than the tools available in 1990-1992.

It's very tempting to just draw the parts (I'm fairly good at engineering drawing) - but that won't improve my skills, won't be as epic and I wouldn't be able to run it through FEA.

[McAndy]

crosseyedlion said:

Thanks! You'll have to be patient though, I'm learning and trying to get things right at the same time. I've got a busy couple of weeks but the pedal box and the face of the front bulkhead should be modelled in couple of weeks.

Regarding FEA, I'm using the very basic package that came with Solidworks 2007 (Cosmo!?). I do have ANSYS, which is much more powerful, but I'm using a 5 year old laptop and fear progress will be demotivatingly slow. So I'm going to move onto that once the bulk of the car is done.

I imagine that the FEA in Solidworks 2007 is similar or slightly better than the tools available in 1990-1992.

It's very tempting to just draw the parts (I'm fairly good at engineering drawing) - but that won't improve my skills, won't be as epic and I wouldn't be able to run it through FEA.

SolidWorks drawings linked to parametric components/assemblies are nice and straight forward. With regard to the FEA, it depends on the level of detail you're trying to get into and whether you have the full or basic add-in. As long as the inputs are correct it provides a reasonable guide of elastic behaviour, if not the minutiae.

[RoadRunner220]

Great thread, looking forward to following this.

[TomScrut]

crosseyedlion said:

I found an old study into brake pedal force, showing the 95th percentile maximum in an emergency situation to be 185lbs, which translates to 822N! Considerably more than the clutch pedal, as expected.

185lbs, is basically my bodyweight, 83kg. From sitting down, slowly lift yourself up using only 1 leg, this is the force going to the pedal...feels about right!

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/20...

I've Cadded up the pedal and it shows, with a load of 822N, a factor of safety of 1.2. Which is absolutely fine.



And these are the areas with a factor of safety less than 2.



With a pedal...


Interestingly, its around 3 times stronger than the clutch pedal, but only 363grams! An immensely strong design.

Edited by crosseyedlion on Monday 16th January 19:57

The force applied in a reg 13 emergency braking test is 750N IIRC which correlates quite well with your findings.

I will be following this with interest. You may benefit from a newer version of SW where the analysis might be a bit better integrated into the program.

[LankyLegoHead]

Also a Design Engineer here, so I'll be following this.

Having said that, how do you spend all day on CAD and come home to do more? I'm struggling myself to get the motivation to scheme up some small parts for my motorbike!

[crosseyedlion]

LankyLegoHead said:

Also a Design Engineer here, so I'll be following this.

Having said that, how do you spend all day on CAD and come home to do more? I'm struggling myself to get the motivation to scheme up some small parts for my motorbike!

Well the thing is, apart from having a quick look at parts I don't really use cad at work. I'm not a professional cad user at all. Hence the learning

That said, I'll quite happily spend all day thinking about and talking about cars, then come home and carry on. Its an affliction I'm sure many can relate to.

[TomScrut]

LankyLegoHead said:

Also a Design Engineer here, so I'll be following this.

Having said that, how do you spend all day on CAD and come home to do more? I'm struggling myself to get the motivation to scheme up some small parts for my motorbike!

Yeah I agree, I have had enough of CATIA by the time I go home!