Fender Design:

Introduction:

A fender is a covering for the engine compartment which protects it from dirt, debris and other hazardous objects. It is also an aesthetic part of the car which is located on the side of the car over the wheel. They are generally made out of sheet metal or plastic. Other important function of the fender is to improve the aerodynamics of the car by reducing the drag, hence improving the overall performance of the car.

There are 2 types of fenders:

1. Full fenders
2. Half fenders

Full fenders:

Full fender covers half the perimeter of the wheel. It used to be found in older cars when the engine compartment used to be narrow.

Due to this, it used to have a lot of mounts for different components. It increases the weight and reduces fuel efficiency.

Half fenders:

These fenders, also called as quarter fender, covers only a certain portion of the wheel. It gives cover to the engine compartment to the part of the cabin where feet of the passengers are present. They are extensively used in passenger cars and some cargo vehicles. The reasons why they are being used widely are:

• Its light-weight build. As it takes only a half the portion of the wheel covering. It reduces the overall weight of the car.
• Improved ground clearance gives the car an ability to drive on off-road conditions. Thus, these can be used in many off-road vehicles.
• Finally due to reduced weight, the performance, cost of building and inventory costs are reduced.

Design:

There are 5 mounting for the quarter fender:

1. A pillar mounting
2. Drip mounting
3. Bumper mounting
4. Flash mounting
5. Sill mounting 

Master-section:

For the design of the fender, the input is the skin data of the quarter fender. The main factor affecting the efficiency of fender is its drip area. The design rules for the drip area are as follows:

• The start of the drip area should have a gap of 150 mm from the head light mount and 200 mm from the cowl area.
• The first angular flange should have an angle of 40^o from horizontal. It should have an angular distance of 8 mm. It should be able to obstruct the view of the engine compartment.
• Fillets are provided as per the master-section.

A Pillar mounting area:

The A pillar is mounted on the corner area. It holds the windshield system at the desired angle. The area is made flat at the bottom for proper fastening of the fasteners.

Drip Mount:

• The drip area is an important part of the fender. This area is responsible for proper mounting of fender onto the engine compartment.
• There is a small gap of 10 mm between the engine components and the farthest edge of the drip mount from the fender skin.
• All the embosses are made flat for proper fitting with the engine compartment.

Bumper mount:

• It is present in the front portion of the fender. It is just below the headlight mount. It has dedicated flange with emboss to mount the plastic bumper.
• Thus, the area where the bumper is mounted, it is called Bumper mounting area.

Flash mount:

• In this area, a plastic component is mounted which is called flash.
• This component is used to guard the engine component from flying dirt, debris and other small objects into the engine compartment.
• This area is provided with small holes of 5 mm diameter at sufficient distance so that the push clips can be fixed properly.

Sill mount:

• It is the mount which is placed at the very bottom of the fender, which is near to the ground.
• It has a narrow flange with a flat emboss. Due to its narrow width, it can house up to 3 holes.
• The mount is given a proper relief at the corners to avoid stress concentration and spring back effect.

Other images of the fender:

Note:

• All the flanges must be given proper relief as the sheet tend to regain its shape due to its elastic nature.
• Fillet radius must have dimension of 3mm + its thickness to avoid stress concentration and corrosion.

CONVERSION TO STEP FILE WAS NOT POSSIBLE IN NX STUDENT VERSION. THUS, PART FILE HAS BEEN ATTACHED IN THE COMPRESSED FILE:

> Final.zip

> report.docx

> images.zip