Fender Design - Wheel Arch Challenge

Fender Design - Wheel Arch Challenge

AIM

To decide whether the given design passes the European standards or not.

INTRODUCTION

• Fender

Fender is a part of an automobile, motorcycle or other vehicle body that frames a wheel well (the fender underside). Its primary purpose is to prevent sand, mud, rocks, liquids, and other road spray from being thrown into the air by the rotating tire. Fenders are typically rigid and can be damaged by contact with the road surface.

The main purpose of fenders on cars is that they shield the wheels and they protect the passengers, the pedestrians, and the other vehicles from stones, mud, liquid, and other debris that can fly in the air because of the speeding rotating wheels while the car is running.

• Wheel Arch

It is a curved part of the Fender positioned right above the wheel.

The Wheel Arch is designed such that it protects both the pedestrian and car cabin from mud, water rocks and other road spray.

Different countries have different wheel arch regulations in place, and the wheel arch design has to comply with them to be deemed usable in that country.

For avoiding design alterations of the same vehicle to meet the different regulations in different countries, the maximum values of the concerned regulation parameters are taken into consideration for design purpose.

European standards for Fender Design:

The wheel Arch area of the fender is usually designed as a cover or shelld over the tyre along its perimeter to stop any debris or stones, dirt, sand, snow etc. from getting thrown into the vehicle/ BIW area as well as outside the vehicle and onto other vehicles or pedestrians on the road.

The European regulation requires a pre determined clearance or a minimum distance of 10mm, to be maintained between the Fender (Front Quarter Panel) and the respective tyre at particular points (5 points/Sections to be exact) along the tyre profile as shown below.

EUROPEAN REGULATIONS REQUIREMENT

JAPAN REGULATION

• The clearance 'L' for tire, hub, cap and fender is to be measured within area K and create clearance check chart to validate • The value of L should be greater than 5mm at all positions
• Wheel guard requirement: The value of 'a' should be more than 5mm at line 30° forward and 50° rearwards from the central vertical axis of the wheel

US REGULATION

• Clearance 'L' is to be checked at all positions from -100° to 100° and create clearance check chart to validate.
• The value of L should be greater than 5mm to satisfy the regulations • Wheel guard requirement: The value of 'a' should be more than 5mm at line 30° forward and 50° rearwards from the central vertical axis of the wheel.

METHODOLOGY

Creating sketch as per european standards

To measure the clearance 'L' easily sheet are created through the line using law extension command

Measuring the clearance from wheel arch to the wheel tyre

1. Clearance for SA= 9.9489 mm

2. Clearance for SB=10 mm

3. Clearance for SC= - 0.112637 mm Line SC lies outside the fender so value is negetive.

4. Clearance for SD=-2.868 mm, Line SD lies outside the fender so value is negetive.

5. Clearance for SE=-5.9018 mm, Line SE lies outside the fender so value is negetive.

SECTION	REQUIRED CLEARANCE(mm)	MEASURED CLEARANCE(mm)	REMARKS
SA	10	9.9489	Fail
SB	10	10	Pass
SC	10	-0.112637	Fail, Tyre protruding outside the wheel arch.
SD	10	-2.868	Fail, Tyre protruding outside the wheel arch.
SE	10	-5.9018	Fail, Tyre protruding outside the wheel arch.

Calculating a value at 30 degree line and 50 degree line

30 degree line a= 43.6263 mm

50 degree line a=38.3597 mm

CONCLUSION

Except one section (SB), all others fail to achieve the minimum gap requirement of 10mm according to the European regulations. In addition to this, there is also protrusion of the wheel outside the wheel arch, which is not recommended. Therefore the model needs to be modified accordingly.