Fender Design - Wheel Arch Challenge

FENDER WHEEL ARCH

Wheel Arch is the semi-circular part of the fender positioned above the wheel of the vehicle. The design of the wheel arch of the fender should be such that it must shield wheels and protect both passengers compartment and pedestarians from the projection of watr, mud and stones.The wheel arch area of the fender is usually designed as a cover or shield over the tyre along its perimeter to stop any debris or stones ,dirt,sand,snow,etc,from getting thrown into the vehicle or the BIW area as well as outside the vehicle and onto other vehicles or pedestarians on the road.For the vehicle to has its permit in different countries,the wheel arch of fenders must be compliant with the standards and regulations set by respective countries.

The European regulations requires a pre-determined clearance or a minimum distance of 10mm to be maintained between the fender and respective tyre at particular points, along the tyre profile as shown below:

STEPS FOLLOWED IN CREATING THE SKETCH REQUIREMENT FOR EUROPEAN STANDARDS

1. A Horizontal and vertical axis is drawn from the centre of the wheel.
2. The vertical axis intersection point is labelled as A.
3. Similar references are drawn at 30 degrees to left and 50 degree to the right and named it as B and C respectively.
4. A line of 150mm is drawn perpendicular to the horizontal axis and normal from the normal point on fender which gives point E.
5. The midpoint of the arc cut by the sections C and E results in a new section D.
6. The value of 'L' at each section and the value of 'a 'are found out to detrmine whether the fender satisfies the european standards as shown below.

VALUE OF L AT B SECTION

VALUE OF L AT A SECTION

VALUE OF L AT C SECTION

VALUE OF L AT D SECTION

VALUE OF L AT E SECTION

THE VALUES AT C,D AND E SECTIONS ARE NEGATIVE VALUES.

Section	Clearance		Result
0A	9.94 < 10		Fail
OB	I10		Pass
OC	-0.113949 < 10		Fail
SD	-2.8875 < 10		Fail
SE	-5.9973 < 10		Fail

Conclusion:

The value of Clearance (L) is measured at all five location and tabulated. The table shows that only a section OB have 10 mm clearance and at remaining four section value will not have more than 10mm with the help of measure data, the given fender does not qualify the European standard for wheel arc area.