Fender Design Challenge

Objective:

To design BIW Fender mounting using sheet metal parameter on the Class A surface with given skin data and master section, using NX CAD.

Introduction:

Front Fender

Fender is the American English term for the part of an automobile, motorcycle, or other vehicle body that frames a wheel well, In British English, the fender is called the wing (this may refer to either the front or rear fenders.

Its primary purpose is to prevent sand, mud, rocks, liquids, and other roads spray from being thrown into the air by the rotating tire.

Fenders are typically rigid and can be damaged by contact with the road surface. Sticky materials, such as mud, may adhere to the smooth outer tire surface, while smooth loose objects, such as stones, can become temporarily embedded in the tread grooves as the tire rolls over the ground. These materials can be ejected from the surface of the tire at high velocity as the tire imparts kinetic energy to the attached objects. For a vehicle moving forward, the top of the tire is rotating upward and forward and can throw objects into the air at other vehicles or pedestrians in front of the vehicle.

Importance Of Fender

Car Fenders are an important component in the body of your car. car fenders are the complex sheet of metal covering the front and the rear wheels of your car. Fenders on a car are panels that extend from the front bumper to the car's doors. Car fenders not just add style to your car but also act as a protective shield for the body of the car. The metal surgeon helps you in getting your car accessorized with the best metallic car fenders in town. We offer a variety of fender flares for cars, trucks, and SUVs which are designed to give a specific look.

Types Of Fender:

Full Bumper Type

The full bumper type is the traditional type of fender where more surface area is covered. This type is used in the old designs of automobiles where it increases the overall weight and thus reduces performance.

Half Bumper Type

Half bumper type is a modern design that serves the technical requirement of a full fender using less material. The productivity of half bumper is more by reducing the size of blank and tooling cost. As the material consumption to produce the part is the low result is a reduction in the overall weight of the steel body thus increasing the performance and aerodynamic aspects of the car.

Fender are mounted on five important regions with car body

• Drip mounting area
• Sill mounting area
• Bumper mounting area
• A-pillar mounting area
• Splash/ Baffle mounting area

These Mountings are joined using fasteners. To Improve the NVH Factor (Noise, Vibration, harshness).

Procedure:

Given data:

Master Section

Skin Data

Design of Drip area:

• Data given for the Drip area in the master section is designed using the curve and surface feature tool in NX CAD.
• It is the most important mounting unit of a fender. It is connected with the engine compartment and therefore a lot of design constraints are to be followed while designing the drip area.
• It should have sufficient clearance from the front and rear end of the fender to accommodate the Cowl mounting region and the Headlamp housing unit respectively as shown in the figure.

The Master Sketch provides the linear and angular measurements for designing the drip mount after taking into consideration various factors like Hood opening, Tool workability, aesthetics (since Fender is a styling surface), Spring Back effect due to exceeded length, etc.

Drip Area

• Two darts patterns are added on the longer side in order to provide stiffness and add strength to the part. So that during motion it does not vibrate and impart forces to the fender outer surface.

• Embossing was provided on the mountings to strengthen them during fastening.

Design of Sill Mounting Area:

• Sill is the panel (metal plate) directly below the bottom of the door supporting the floor and may be used to combine floor and body. The bottom end of the fender is mounted on the sill body for reinforcement of the fender panel, thus the sill mounting position is designed with holes and emboss. M5 fasteners are used to fix fenders on the sill body.

Sill Mounting

Design of Bumper Mounting Area:

• In the bumper mounting area also is embossed surfaces with bolting holes are provided. M5 bolt holes are considered to assemble the bumper and fender on the car.

Bumper Mounting

Design of A-Pillar Mounting Area:

• The A-pillar is the structural pillar that ties the body to the roof. This makes the sides of the windshield rest. Front fenders are fastened to the A-pillar to form a robust structure.

A-Pillar Mounting

Design of Splash/Baffle Mounting Area:

• Baffle mounting or mudguard are clip-fit types of mounting on the inner side of the fender arch area over the tire. It protects the car engine compartment and wakes pedestrians from causing injuries from chip-out debris on the road when the car is in motion. They are mounted on the fender using a special type of locking clips which are made up of Plastic.

Splash Mounting

Applying Thickness to surface

• The thickness of 0.75mm inward on the final sewed surface of the fender is applied.

Fender with all Mountings:

Conclusion:

The Fenders Mounts have been created using NX-CAD Software. These Mounts are created according to our own design Engineering Standards.