Fender Design - Wheel Arch Challenge

FENDER WHEEL ARCH CHALLENGE

FENDER WHEEL ARCH

Wheel Arch is the semi-circular part of the fender positioned above the wheel of the vehicle. The design of the wheel arch of the fender should be such that it must shield wheels and protect both passengers compartment and pedestarians from the projection of watr, mud and stones.The wheel arch area of the fender is usually designed as a cover or shield over the tyre along its perimeter to stop any debris or stones ,dirt,sand,snow,etc,from getting thrown into the vehicle or the BIW area as well as outside the vehicle and onto other vehicles or pedestarians on the road.For the vehicle to has its permit in different countries,the wheel arch of fenders must be compliant with the standards and regulations set by respective countries.

The European regulations requires a pre-determined clearance or a minimum distance of 10mm to be maintained between the fender and respective tyre at particular points, along the tyre profile as shown below:

STEPS FOLLOWED IN CREATING THE SKETCH REQUIREMENT FOR EUROPEAN STANDARDS

1. A Horizontal and vertical axis is drawn from the centre of the wheel.
2. The vertical axis intersection point is labelled as A.
3. Similar references are drawn at 30 degrees to left and 50 degree to the right and named it as B and C respectively.
4. A line of 150mm is drawn perpendicular to the horizontal axis and normal from the normal point on fender which gives point E.
5. The midpoint of the arc cut by the sections C and E results in a new section D.
6. The value of 'L' at each section and the value of 'a 'are found out to detrmine whether the fender satisfies the european standards as shown below.

Calculations for the value of clearance "L":

The clearance "L" as shown in the above fig at all the five sections SA, SB, SC, SD, and SE should be greater than 10mm.

• Measuring "L" for the given Wheel and Fender at SA

The value of "L" at SA - 9.9489mm

• Measuring "L" for the given wheel and fender at SB

The value of "L" at SB = 10mm

• Measuring "L" for the given wheel and fender at SC

The value of "L" at SC = 0.1139mm

• Measuring "L" for the given wheel and fender at SD

The Value of "L" at SD = 2.8875mm

5) Measuring "L" for the given wheel and fender at SE

The value of "L" at SE= 5.9973mm

RESULTS

REGION	REQUIRED CLEARENCE	ACTUAL CLEARENCE	RESULTS
SA	10mm	9.9489mm	fail
SB	10mm	10mm	pass
SC	10mm	0.1139mm	fail
SD	10mm	2.8875mm	fail
SE	10mm	5.9973mm	fail

CONCLUSSION

From the above results we can conclude that the Fender does not pass the European Regulations, as the minimum clearance L between the Fender Wheel Arch and Wheel for vehicle and pedestrian safety is 10mm and this design does not meet the requirement.