Fender Design Challenge
Fender is a BIW component used as a frame for the wheel, the main purpose of a fender in an automobile is to protect the engine compartment from sand, dust, small stones, etc which are thrown into the air by the tire grip. These can cause damage to the car body and hence we use a fender to guard the tire. We have front as well as a rear fender in a car, the rear fender is integrated with the body side. The front fender is a separate closure commodity.
There are two types of the fender in general:
- full bumper type
- half bumper type
Full bumper type :
The full bumper type fender was used in old cars, it covers the full area until the front lighting. But it has a lot of sheet metal material which is unnecessary and increases the weight of the fender. These type fenders are no longer used in the automobiles.
Fender Mounting Parts:
A fender has a total of 5 mounting points through which it is mounted in a car. These are
- Sill mounting
- Splash Cover mounting
- Bumper Mounting
- Drip area
- A-pillar mounting
Designing
Drip Area
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.