Fender Design - Wheel Arch Challenge

WHEEL ARC CHALLENGE

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the wheel arc challenge is to calculate the wheel arc area using Siemens NX CAD and to prove whether the given fender of car will pass the European standards.

INTRODUCTION : 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:

EUROPEAN REGULATION:

1. At all five sections the CL L value should be greater than 10mm to satisfy the European regulations.
2. Wheel guard requirement: the value of ‘a’ shall be more than 5mm at a line 30*forward and 50*rearward from the central vertical axis of axis of wheel.

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 SA.
3. Similar references are drawn at 30 degrees to left and 50 degree to the right and named it as SB and SC respectively.
4. A line of 150mm is drawn perpendicular to the horizontal axis and normal from the normal point on fender which gives point SE.
5. The midpoint of the arc cut by the sections C and E results in a new section SD.
6. The value of 'L' at each section is to be found out to detemine 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 :-

RESULTS:

CONCLUSION:  From the above results we can conclude that the fender does not pass the European regulations, as the minimum clearance L between the fender wheel arch and wheel for vehicle and pedestrian safety is 10mm and this design does not meet the requirement.