Fender Design - Wheel Arch Challenge

AIM: Calculate the Wheel Arch gap at required points and check whether the car passes the European standard.

THEORY:

Wheel arc is a semi-circular part of the fender positioned above the wheel of the vehicle. The design of the wheel arc of a fender should obey some standards according to the region, it is designed with respect to pedestrian safety and road condition. A fender should shield the wheel to prevent mud, sand, rocks, liquid, and all sorts of debris from being thrown in the air while you’re driving your car. Usually, in design, we consider the side clearance between the wheel and the fender, radial distance, and wheel arc area. And this changes with respect to region and road conditions, so it obeys some standards.

Some of the standards are,

• Japanese standards
• European standards
• US standards

Japanese standards

• The clearance ‘L’ between the outer surface of the tire & fender in three different positions within area K as mentioned in the figure below must be greater than 5 mm
• The value of ‘L’ shall be more than 5 mm at line 30° forward and 50° rearwards from the central vertical axis to the axis of the wheel.

European Standards

• At all sections, SA-SA SB-SB SC-SC SD-SD SE-SE should be greater than 10mm to satisfy European regulations.
• Wheel guard requirement: The value of 'a' shall be more than 5 mm at line 30° forward ad 50° rearward from the central vertical axis of the wheel.

US Standards

• Clearance between -100° to 100° in all positions should be greater than 5 mm to satisfy the regulations.
• Wheel guard requirements: The value of 'a' shall be more than 5 mm at a line 30° forward and 50° rearward from the central vertical axis of the wheel.

In our case, we are calculating the Wheel Arch gap with European standards.

CALCULATIONS:

The sketch is drawn using NxCAD with European standards:

Measure the clearance value at all section positions:

1. At SB

 

2. At SA

3. At SC

4. At SD

5. At SE

 

Table A: Clearance 'L' value at each section

Sections	Clearance 'L' Value (in mm)	Minimum value required as per standard (in mm)	Remarks
SB	10	10	Pass
SA	9.9490	10	Fail
SC	0.113949	10	Fail
SD	2.8875	10	Fail
SE	5.9973	10	Fail

CONCLUSION:

• From the above table, we can see that section SA SC SD SE fails to pass the European standards. Further modifications are needed to meet the standards.
• In section SB, the required standards are met and no further modifications are not required.
• This data will be sent to the design department for further modifications.