Fender Design - Wheel Arch Challenge

FENDER DESIGN- WHEEL ARCH CALCULATION:

• OBJECTIVE:

Calculate the wheel arch area of European standard and prove whether the car will pass the standards or Not.

• INTRODUCTION:

The wheel arch is an arch- shaped cavity in the body of a vehicle, which houses a wheel. it has two important functions. it serves for the safety of pedestrains & other cars because the wheel is situated in the body of a vehicle. the second function is to protect the car from the sticky materials, such as mud, may adhere to the smooth outer tire surface, while smooth loose objects, such as stones can be temporarily embedded in the tread grooves as the tire rolls over the grounds. these material 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 is rotating upward and forward and can throw objects into the air at other vehicle or peddestrains in front of the vehicle.

TYPES OF WHEEL ARCH REGULATIONS:

• JAPAN REGULATIONS:

1. Measure clearance L of tire, hub, cap and fender in three different positions within area K and produce clearance check chart to validate.
2. Clearance must be greater than 5mm in all three positions.
3. Wheel guard requirement: The value shall be more than 5mm at a line 30 forward 50 reward from the central vertical axis of wheel.

• EUROPEAN REGULATIONS:
  • Measure CL L at section SA-SA SB-SB SC-SC SD-SD SE-SE and produce CL check chart to validate.
  • At all five sections the CL L value should be greater than 10 mm to satisfy the European regulations.
  • Wheel guard requirement: The value shall be more than 5 mm at a line 30 degree forward and 50 degree reward from the central vertical axis of wheel.

• US REGULATIONS:
  • Make Clearance check details on all position from 100 to 100 & make the clearance check table.
  • All values should be greater than 5 mm to satisfy the regulations. the value shall be more than 5mm at line of 30 degree forward and 50 degree reward from the central vertical axis of wheel.
  • 
• ANALYSIS:
  • There are different regulations on different regions. This analysis has been done according to European Regulations.
  • The part file was opened using NX CAD and the points were plotted on the wheel arch after taking the required measurements from the wheel center.

The Section clearance value was measured & found to be below as:

Section	Required Clearance (mm)	Measured Clearance ‘L’ (mm)	Remarks
SB	10	10	Pass
SA	10	9.94	Fail
SC	10	0.12	Fail
SD	10	2.89	Fail
SE	10	5.99	Fail

From the above observations the positions SA SC SD SE are less than 10 mm which is necessary to pass the European Standards. Hence the front fender wheel arch does not pass the European standard.

Suggestion to styling Team:

The styling team is required to modify the styling surface of the fender such that the clearance L at sectons SA, SC, SD & SE is equal to or greater than 10 mm by increasing the curvature at those section towards outside.