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Now let me show you all this through the situation of the brake pedal. 

For this rather elementary part and situation, all I am assuming is that the pedal is bolted only at the bottom (realistically we would have a balance bar mounting point)

Additionally, in this case, we are simulating in the case that the brake is already pushed down and that the driver is now attempting to push the brake pedal past its limit. This is basically a safety check to ensure that in a tense situation, due to adrenaline or whatever other extenuating circumstance, the brake pedal will not break (lol) in a situation where it cannot move anymore past its limit.

• If you were simulating in a case where the brake was at its starting position, you would utilize a hinge support, which would restrict the circular edge of the hole in all 6 DOF except for rotation around its own axis. Basically the brake pedal can only move like it would in real life, rotating around the bolt.

In terms of external loads, we simply have a the a 2000 N force applied normal to the pedal contact area (2000 N because this is the required force a brake pedal must be designed for in FSAE competition regulations), as well as the gravitational force acting at the center of gravity (as the pedal is being actively pulled down since the top part is essentially floating in air).

Useful Tidbits

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Ergo Idea dump :

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