Design and Study of Wheel Arch of a Car Fender
Fender Design - Wheel Arch Challenge.
Objective: Calculate the Wheel Arch gap at the required points and check whether the car passes the European standard.
Fender: A fender is part of a car, truck, motorcycle, or vehicle that frames or covers a wheel well. Its primary purpose is to prevent rocks, mud, liquids, sand, debris, and other road debris from getting thrown in the air while the tires rotate. When a Vehicle is moving it picks or runs through various elements, like stones, rocks, and debris, and hurl them in all direction. The fender contains the motion of such stones and rocks picked up by the tires. It also protects pedestrians from getting hit by debris.
The fender typically refers to the front panel that covers the front wheels, and the quarter panel typically refers to the rear panel that covers the rotation which also includes the roof pillar.
The front fender has the following mountings on it:
- Body,` degrees`
- A-Pillar,
- Sill,
- Cowl,
- Drip.
Wheel Arc Design is done with the requirement according to the respective Regions.
Japan Regulations
Measure clearance 'L' of tire, hub, cap, and fender within three different positions in area K and produce a clearance check chart to validate the values.
Clearance must be more than 5 mm at all three positions.
The Value of 'a' must be more than 5mm at line 30 degrees forward and 50 degrees rearward from the central verticle axis from the axis of the wheel.
European Regulations
Measure clearance 'L' at SA-SA, SB-SB, SC-SC, SD-SD, and SE-SE as shown in the figure, and produce a clearance check chart to validate the values.
Clearance must be more than 10 mm at all five sections.
The value of 'a' must be more than 5mm at line 30 degrees forward and 50 degrees rearward from the central verticle axis from the axis of the wheel.
American Regulation
Make Clearance check details on all positions from -100 degrees to 100 and produce a clearance check chart to validate the values.
All values must be more than 5 mm to satisfy the regulations.
The value of 'a' must be more than 5mm at line 30 degrees forward and 50 degrees rearward from the central verticle axis from the axis of the wheel.
Wheel Arc Design according to European Regulations.
Measurement of Clearance 'L'
Measurement of the value 'a'
Clearance Check Table:
| Sr. No. | Line/Section | Clearance 'L' | Remarks | Value of 'a' | Remarks |
| 1 | SA-SA | +9.949 | PASS | - | |
| 2 | SB-SB | +10.0 | PASS | +43.623 | PASS |
| 3 | SC-SC | -0.114 | FAIL | +38.359 | PASS |
| 4 | SD-SD | -2.887 | FAIL | - | |
| 5 | SE-SE | -5.997 | FAIL | - |
Conclusion
The European regulations state that at all the points the distance between the projected points on the diameter of the wheel to the fender should be 10 mm or more and from what we can see from this analysis, this fender model will not pass through the European regulation requirement as only at one point, i.e Line SA, does the distance meet the 10 mm requirement. At every other point, it is less than 10 mm and hence this model fails to pass European standards.