Fender Design - Wheel Arch Challenge
Objective:
To calculate the Wheel Arch gap at required points and check whether the car passes the European standard.
Wheel arch:
Wheel arch is the semi-circular part of fender positioned above the wheel of the vehicle.
Its primary purpose is to prevent sand, mud, rocks, liquids, and other road spray from being thrown into the air by the rotating tire. Sticky materials, such as mud, may adhere to the smooth outer tire surface, while smooth loose objects, such as stones, can become temporarily embedded in the treat grooves as the tire rolls over the ground. These materials 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 upward and forward, and can throw objects into the air, at other vehicles or pedestrians or internally.
Indian and Sri Lankan English usage, the wheel arch is called a mudguard.
The design of Wheel arch of a fender should be such that it satisfies the design standards set by its country(country that the car is manufactured for).
In this challenge lets analize if the given design for wheel arch in the fender satisfies European standards :
European standard is as follows :
Challenge:
After sketching according to the european standard let us measure the distances as specified and verify the design.
Obtaining the clearance value at L at sections SA, SB, SC, SD and SE :
At Section SB : L = 10mm
At Section SA : L = 9.9489mm
At Section SC : L = 0.1136mm
At Section SD : L = -2.8787mm
At Section SE : L = -5.9755mm
Similarly to calculate wheel gaurd clearance 'A' at SB and SC :
At Section SB : A = 43.6263mm
At Section SC : A = 38.3897mm
TABULATING ANALYSIS FOR 'L' VALUE
Note: - The negative sign is used because the curvature of the fender-wheel arch is going
down from the wheel surface
TABULATING ANALYSIS FOR 'A' VALUE
Conclusion:
The given model is analysed according to the European Standards and from the above table it is clear that the fender does not pass the European standards at all sections hence rework is required by the styling team.