Analysis of the Influence of Clutch Pedal to Vehicle Comfort

Abstract

Driving comfort is one of the most important factors affecting automobile comfort, it also reflect the quality of automobile design. Clutch pedal force and pedal motion stroke mainly affect the driving comfort. Too light pedal force makes drivers feel the juncture not obviously, too heavy pedal force makes drivers fatigue; Separation would lead to clutch would release excessive if the separation distance was too short, there would be flameout problem if the combined distance is too long and this may also make drivers feel pedal engagement point is much more higher. This paper mainly analyzes the influence of clutch comfort to vehicle comfort according to theoretical calculation, objective test and subjective evaluation of the clutch system. The impact of clutch pedal to drive comfort can be analyzed mainly from pedal travel and pedal load. A multi-body vibration model with four degrees of freedom, including toe-in, camber angle, vertical jumping and self-vibration of tread in the lateral orientation, is set up. Parameters sensitivity, which would affect the vehicle bifurcation speed, are calculated by means of numerical simulation method in Matlab, and several control strategies which would suppress the tire self-excited vibration are proposed. This study mainly focuses on clutch pedal comfort analysis of economic car, the model in this research is the company’s developing car, but the research method is applicable to any vehicles. A multi-body self-vibration model is established to predict the polygonal wear of tire and several suggestions are made to avoid the polygonal wear of tire. Conclusions: The result showed that separation distance of 100–125 mm and engagement point pedal force of 85–100 N can satisfy the requirements of vehicle driving comfort better.

F2012-C01-002