Fender Design Challenge
Front-Fender Design
What is Fender?
Fender is the part of an automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle body that frames a wheel well (the fender underside). Its primary purpose is to prevent sand, mud, rocks, liquids, and other road 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.
Standards around the World
The fender design is different for different regions in the world. Thus, there is Janpaneous, European and American standards.
The Japanese standard for Fender wheel arch curvature tells us to mark lines at 30 and 50 degrees from the vertical reference line on the wheel and project with the minimum clearance of 5 mm.
European is similar; however , mark a line at 150 mm from the base with the bisecting point for this line and backward line at 50 degree with the clearance of 10 mm minimum.
The American standard does this for every 10 degrees.
Drip, sill, bumper and A-pillar mountings
The drip area is designed in such a way the gap between hood and fender is not visualized to the person from outside. One necessary constraint is about the distance of the drip from the engine compartment area which is kept 10 mm or above and tool workability should be achieved by giving proper height.
The dripping area length should be selected while keeping 200 mm from the rear end and 150 mm from the front end of the fender.
The sill mount and bumper mounts are designed properly keeping such that the bumper and sill will be properly assembled with the fender.
The A-pillar mount is also designed so that mounting occurs easily.