Fender Design - Wheel Arch Challenge

                                                  Wheel Arc Calculations:

Wheel arc: 

•  It is the part which is placed above the wheel or tyre of the vehicle which is in semi-circular shape.
• It prevents from entering of dust, water or anything that might harm the engine compartment and to prevent from corrosion.
•  They also protect any electrics or pipework from the water.
• It also helps the wheel to rotate , turn left right and even bounce without causing any interference between wheel and the body.

The design standards of wheel arc varies for different countries:

 Japense standards: the gap between the fender and the wheel that is the clearance should not be less than 5mm.

                                                        

European standards: 

                                        

As per european standards the clearance value should be minimum of 10mm 

The above figure shows the checkpoints of sections SB, SA, SC, SD and SE 

The model used is

Procedure for calculating the wheel arc clearance using the above model as per european standard are:

• Five checkpoints are obtained by drawing the line perpendicular in y axis (SA), the angle between th forward line is 30 degree(SB)and the backward  line angle is 50 degree(SC)
• Distance of 150mm from horizontal axis intercept and normal from point of fender (SE) the midpoint of arc between SC and SE is formed as SD.
• After which the distance between each checkpoints and the intersection point is measured and following result is obtained.

 Section SA of 9.9490mm

 Section SB of 10mm

 Section SC of -0.1139mm

 Section SD of -2.8875mm

 Section SE of -5.99mm

the sections SC, SD and SE Here the value is negative cause wheels outer face is not within the outer edge of the fender, so to meet european standard it should be redesigned to get atleast clearance of more than 10mm.It is even the safety issue

SECTION                                                   CLEARANCE OBTAINED                                         CLEARANCE

SA 10mm                                                    9.9490mm                                                                 FAIL

SB 10mm                                                          10mm                                                                PASS

SC 10mm                                                  - 0.1139mm                                                             FAIL

SD 10mm                                                   -2.8875mm                                                               FAIL

SE 10mm                                                   -5.99mm                                                                 FAIL

Result:

After calculating the wheel arc clearance value using european standards we come to an end that the design fails since all the sections rather than SA are not greater than 10mm of clearance value, So therefore the model should be redesigned to satisfy the condition.