General Sir John Kotelawala Defense University
Sri Lanka
FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS
PROJECT
ANALYSIS OF A BICYCLE BRAKE LEVER
N. W. Mohottala
(D/ENG/20/0080/MC)
BSc (Hons) in Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
Submission Date: 13 October 2021
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Contents
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………...2
LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…2
METHODOLOGY………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...4
SOLID MODEL………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….4
CALCULATIONS……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6
FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………7
MODEL INFORMATION……………………………………………………………………………………………………7
MATERIAL PROPERTIES…………………………………………………………………………………………………..8
LOADS AND FIXTURES…………………………………………………………………………………………………….9
VON MISES STRESS......................................................................................................10
DISPLACEMENT...........................................................................................................11
STRAIN.......................................................................................................................12
FACTOR OF SAFETY.....................................................................................................13
MESH INDEPENDENCE ANALYSIS……………………………………………………………………………………………..14
SIMPLIFICATIONS TO THE DESIGN……………………………………………………………………………………………15
COMPARISON TO THE DESIGNS……………………………………………………………………………………………….19
SUGGESTIONS TO THE DESIGN……………………………………………………………………………………….….…….21
CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..22
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….23
Page 1 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Introduction
For this project I have chosen to conduct finite element analysis on a bicycle brake lever. The bicycle brake
lever serves an important role in braking of the bicycle. Basically it is pivoted at a point and when a force is
applied on the handle it pulls on the brake wire which tightens the brake pads on to the tire slowing down
the bicycle. In this project I will be analysing the brake lever under impulsive forces hence seeing if the
structure is able to withstand
Literature Review
I based my model on the design used in the research paper by Fargas Cabanillas et al.(2013);
Figure 1: The design my model was based on
This research paper was a detailed report on designing a brake handle from scratch and developing to a
sustainable one using finite element analysis.
Figure 2: The final design reached in the research
Figure 2 shows the final design reached by that research through extensive iterations and applications of
FEA. Moreover in that research the force applied on the handle was taken as 40kg arbitally and the
software used was ANSYS.
In my project I will be determining the maximum force being applied on the handle in a more methodical
way and the FEA will not be as extensive as in this referred research.
Furthermore my project will be analysis of the brake lever in case of impulsive braking.
Page 2 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Figure 3: Existing Bicycle Brake Levers
(Fargas Cabanillas et al.2013)
Above are a few types of existing brake levers made up of different materials and its properties, these were
all considered when selecting the suitable material for my project.
Page 3 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Methodology
I will first be determining the maximum force which will be applied on a brake lever by an average human.
Table 1 : Hand grip strengths across age groups
(Richard W. Bohannon, et al. 2006)
It is clearly observed that the maximum force possible is 140.3lb. Next I developed the 2D sketch as below
based on the research mentioned before.
Figure 4: 2D sketch of my model
Based on various existing brake levers I modelled the 3D figure as below,
Figure 5: Initial 3D model
Page 4 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
I then proceeded to filet the edges in suitable values to make the simulation closer to a real brake lever.
The finished 3D model is as below;
Figure 6: Final 3D model
Working of the brake lever
C
A
Figure 7: Working of the brake lever
The hole A is where the brake wire connects to the brake lever. The hole B is pivoted such that when a
force is applied on the handle (C), the lever rotates clockwise about the pivot B hence pulling on the brake
wire connected to A. In this report when I use the word ‘handle’ it is referring to the part C of the diagram.
Since in this project we are concerned with impulsive braking, the resistive force of the wire is not used in
the finite element analysis. This is because when applied an impulsive force on the handle the brake wire
will act as a fixture initially. It is this exact moment we are concerned with whether the lever can handle
the maximum possible impulsive force.
Page 5 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Calculations
The found maximum force 140.3lb is converted into Newtons, thus maximum force = 624.1N.
To mimic the width of a hand and forcing the full force across the length I will find the equivalent pressure
and apply it across the length of the handle. I believe this to be the most suitable way to represent a palm
applying the force.
Figure 8: Calculation of required pressure
As above calculations a pressure of 1.432 N/mm2 will be applied across the handle.
Assumptions
That the pressure is only applied in top flat surface of the handle when gripped.
That there are no other external forces acting on the brake lever.
That the applied loads are impulsive(moment of sudden braking).
Page 6 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Finite Element Analysis
Model Information
Model name: FEA_Project3dmodelled_staticanalysis
Current Configuration: Default
Solid Bodies
Document Name and Document Path/Date
Treated As Volumetric Properties
Reference Modified
VarFillet1
Mass:0.0688804 kg
C:\Users\Nirash
Volume:2.5511e-005 m^3
mohottala\Downloads\FEA_Pr
Solid Body Density:2700.03 kg/m^3
oject3dmodelled_staticanalysi
Weight:0.675028 N
s.SLDPRT
Page 7 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Material Properties
Considering the cost and strength of materials I have selected Aluminium 6061, this is because the 6061 is
the most cost efficient among the other materials while also having a good strength and is easily
machinable.
Model Reference Properties
Name: 6061 Alloy
Model type: Linear Elastic Isotropic
Default failure criterion: Max von Mises Stress
Yield strength: 5.51485e+007 N/m^2
Tensile strength: 1.24084e+008 N/m^2
Elastic modulus: 6.9e+010 N/m^2
Poisson's ratio: 0.33
Mass density: 2700 kg/m^3
Shear modulus: 2.6e+010 N/m^2
Thermal expansion coefficient: 2.4e-005 /Kelvin
Page 8 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Loads and Fixtures
The parts A and B were fixed as discussed in the methodology and applied the pressure across the length of
the handle.
Fixture name Fixture Image Fixture Details
Entities: 1 face(s)
Type: Fixed Geometry
Fixed-1
Resultant Forces
Components X Y Z Resultant
Reaction force(N) 1579.7 1003.58 0.0560737 1871.53
Reaction Moment(N.m) 0 0 0 0
Entities: 1 face(s)
Type: Fixed Geometry
Fixed-2
Resultant Forces
Components X Y Z Resultant
Reaction force(N) -1579.7 -256.259 -0.0589256 1600.35
Reaction Moment(N.m) 0 0 0 0
Load name Load Image Load Details
Entities: 1 face(s)
Type: Normal to selected
face
Value: 1.432
Units: N/mm^2 (MPa)
Pressure-1 Phase Angle: 0
Units: deg
Page 9 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Study Results:
Von Mises Stress
Name Type Min Max
Stress1 VON: von Mises Stress 4.425e+001N/m^2 5.105e+008N/m^2
Node: 13519 Node: 10173
FEA_Project3dmodelled_staticanalysis-Static Study 1 Ldis-Stress-Stress1
Page 10 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Displacement
Name Type Min Max
Displacement1 UY: Y Displacement -6.870e-001cm 2.049e-004cm
Node: 40 Node: 10
FEA_Project3dmodelled_staticanalysis-Static Study 1 Ldis-Displacement-Displacement1
Page 11 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Strain
Name Type Min Max
Strain1 ESTRN: Equivalent Strain 8.183e-010 5.542e-003
Element: 4861 Element: 2170
FEA_Project3dmodelled_staticanalysis-Static Study 1 Ldis-Strain-Strain1
Page 12 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Factor of Safety
Name Type Min Max
Factor of Safety1 Max von Mises Stress 1.080e-001 3.000e+000
Node: 10173 Node: 1
FEA_Project3dmodelled_staticanalysis-Static Study 1 Ldis-Factor of Safety-Factor of Safety1
Things to note in the FOS diagram;
• A factor of safety less than 1.0 at a location indicates that the material at that location has failed.
• A factor of safety of 1.0 at a location indicates that the material at that location has just started to
fail.
• A factor of safety larger than 1.0 at a location indicates that the material at that location is safe.
I will discuss further on improving the design in the Simplifications to the design segment.
Page 13 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Mesh Independence Analysis
Table 2: Mesh size vs Maximum Von Mises Stress table
Case 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Mesh size(mm) 2.94488 2 1 4 5 10 15
Maximum Von Mises
Stress(N/mm^2) 5.11E+08 5.10E+08 5.10E+08 4.99E+08 5.02E+08 4.86E+08 4.44E+08
Maximum Von Mises Stress(N/mm^2)
6.00E+08
5.00E+08
4.00E+08
3.00E+08
2.00E+08
1.00E+08
0.00E+00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Graph 1: Element size vs Maximum Von Mises Stress Graph
As we can observe the maximum stress is constant across the element sizes 2-5, the constant value is
5.1E+08 N/mm2 hence the ideal element size can be determined as 2.
It was not possible for meshing of element sizes less than 1 as the processing time took very long and
abruptly ends with the program not responding. This is because smaller the element size the more
processing power required to mesh and solve the study.
Page 14 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Simplifications to the design
Regions with FOS value less than 1 are shown in red (unsafe regions). Blue regions indicate safe regions.
As seen from the Safety Factor figure most of the component designed has an FOS below 1 meaning the
material has failed in the dark red regions. Again it is important to note that this FEA is done for an
extreme situation whereas on normal functioning only a small cycle of forces will be applied on the lever.
I have redesigned the same brake pad changing fillets, angle and position of the handle aiming to create a
design which will yield an FOS greater than 1 throughout the component. Hereon will be a discussion on
the designs I modelled and the results yielded. In each of the redesigned models FEA was done using the
same fixtures and applied force.
My original model
Figure 9: Initial model
Figure 10: FOS of initial model
Page 15 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Eventhough the core of the handle has not failed (FOS is greater than 1) we can observe that majority of
the handle has an FOS lesser than 1 with the minimum being 0.11.
First redesign
The changes done here are changing the fillet radii and lowering the handle vertically from its initial
position.
Figure 11: First redesigned model
Figure 12: FOS of 1st redesigned model
We can observe a clear reduction of the areas with FOS lower than 1 with the minimum being 0.22.
Page 16 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Second redesign
Figure 13: Second redesigned model
Figure 14: FOS of 2nd redesigned model
This was a more experimental design I did keeping sharp edges on the top side and used a fillet to
smoothen the bottom of the handle, as observed more material has failed with a minimum FOS of 0.088.
Page 17 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Third redesign
Figure 14: Third redesigned model
Figure 15: FOS of 3rd redesigned model
In this design what I have done is given a curvature to the handle and increased the fillet radius, the rest is
same as the original model. We can see that the minimum FOS of this is 0.15 and much better than the 2nd
redesigned model as most f the handle specially the core is safe.
Out of all the models the safest is the 1st redesigned model as its minimum FOS is higher than the rest and
most of the handle core is safe. It is also important to note that these levers were tested for the maximum
possible force exerted by a human, so these levers could be perfectly safe in normal use.
Page 18 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Comparisons : Maximum Von Mises Stress
Figure 16: Von Mises Stress diagram for the original model
Figure 17: Von Mises Stress diagram for 1st redesigned model
Page 19 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Figure 18: Von Mises Stress diagram for 2nd redesigned model
Figure 19: Von Mises Stress Diagram for 3rd redesigned model
Upon comparison of the Von Mises Stress Diagrams it is clear that the 1st redesigned model has the least
maximum stress of value 2.493e+08N/mm2, but in the 3rd redesigned model we can see that the
distribution of stress is pretty much even and with very small region of maximum stress(3.638e+08N/mm2).
Page 20 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Suggestions to the design
By designing all the above models and running static studies I have realised that when the edges are not
smoothened with fillets a large stress acts on the material on these sharp edges. Hence it is possible to
make the material more safer by defining proper fillets for these edges.
Regarding the material; the material I have selected is the most cost effective yet it comes at a price of
lesser strength, if we were to disregard the price a carbon fibre based material would be best for the brake
lever as it is light weight and has more strength than the aluminium grade I have selected.
Another plausible change is removing material from regions to create a structure as in the literature review,
it is possible to remove material from my designs in areas which have SOF above 3, doing this successfully
will yield a model similar to figure 2.
On further improving the design, thickening the regions of pivot can lead to higher FOS of the model.
Page 21 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
Conclusion
Upon completion of my project I have gained confidence and experience in conducting Finite Element
Analysis and even sharpened my skills on building functioning models from scratch. I have also learned to
fine tune simulation results through independence mesh analysis to make the simulated results more
realistic. A basic understanding on identifying necessary changes to improve the design was also developed.
The skill of forming discussions and comparisons based on results of FEA was developed frther.
Furthermore I have discovered certain limitations faced in FEA during my project, primarily decreasing the
mesh size below a certain threshold is too much for the software to handle and crashes. Secondly there
was a lack of engineering mathematical calculations used in my report which may have lead to generating
inaccurate simulations. However this project helped me develop a deeper understanding on the behaviour
of materials under external forces.
All in all, I have successfully designed, modelled a brake lever and conducted finite element analysis and
used the results to improve the design under the stated assumptions.
Page 22 of 23
N W Mohottala D/ENG/20/0080/MC
References
Cabanillas, F, Delgado, J.M.O, Cabones, R.S., & Clara.(2013).Continuum Mechanics: BIKE BRAKE
LEVER DESIGN. Universitat Politècnica De Catalunya.
What type of aluminium alloy is used for bikes?(2021,May 24).BikeHike.Retrieved October
8,2021,from What Type Of Aluminum Alloy Is Used For Bikes - BikeHike.
Richard, W. B., Jane B.,Desrosiers, J., Massy-Westropp,N., & Peolsson,A.,(2006).Reference values
for adult grip strength measured with a Jamar dynamometer: A descriptive analysis. Research
Centre on Aging and Faculty of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Université de
Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, Québec, Canada.
Aluminium Alloy - General Information – Specifications.aalco. Retrieved October 10,2021,from Aluminium
Alloy - General Information - Specifications (aalco.co.uk)
ISO 4210-4:2014. 01/07/2014. Cycles -- Safety requirements for bicycles -- Part 4: Braking test methods
Page 23 of 23
