Fender Design - Wheel Arch Challenge

Fender Design- Wheel Arch Design

 

• Objective: -

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

 

• Introduction: -

Wheel arches are semi-circular areas placed over the wheels of a vehicle to protect the wheels, BIW and pedestrians from projections or splashes of water, mud, dirt, debris, sand, snow, and rocks. They also play an important role in the safety of pedestrians and other passing vehicles. Wheel arches are designed to allow the wheels to turn to either side when steering without interfering with the bodywork, allowing access to the wheels and other wheel-mounted components.

Vehicle must undergo many tests and fit into the criteria before into the market. For Wheel arch fender design also, there are regulations set by each country to check the gap between wheel and wheel arch.

Most countries follow one of the standard regulations mentioned below:

1. Japanese Regulations:

• A sketch is created as in the image
• Measure the tire, hub, cap, and fender distance L at three different locations within area K to create a distance check chart for
• Clearance must be at least 5 mm in all three 0
• Wheel guard requirements: The value of 'a' must be at least 5mm on a line 30 degrees forward and 50 degrees rearward from the vertical center line of the

1. European Regulation

• Measure clearance length L(Length) at sections SA-SA SB-SB SC-SC SD-SD SE-SE and produce clearance length check chart validate.
• At all five sections the clearance length L value should be greater than 10mm to satisfy this regulation.
• 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.

1. US Regulations:

• Make clearance check details on all positions from -100° to 100° & mark the clearance in table.
• All values should be greater than 5 mm to satisfy the regulations
• Wheel guard requirement: The value of 'a' shall be more than 5 mm at a line 30° forward and 50° rearward from the central vertical axis of wheel.

In this challenge, we need to check gaps as per European standards for given data & Procedure stated below: -

 

Procedure: -

1. To check the clearances, a sketch will be created as per European standard.
2. Datum plane is created on wheel face to create sketch. From center of wheel a vertical axis is drawn (SA). From this line 30deg forward and 50deg rearward lines are drawn. (SB-SC)
3. An offset of 150mm is created for horizontal line through center of wheel, a point is created where this offset line meets wheel arch line. Line is drawn from this point to wheel center. (SE)
4. Line SD is drawn by bisecting line SC and SE.
5. Now distance between these 5 lines and outer edge of fender curve is measured.
6. Similarly, clearance "a" is calculated at SB and SC line.

  

Fig 1: showing sketch- wheel arch geometry (European standard)

Results: -

1. Clearance “L” : -

Refer below snapshots for various measurements of clearances “L” at different locations as per European standard.

Clearance at “SB”: -

Clearance at “SA”: -

Clearance at “SC”: -

Clearance at “SD”: -

Clearance at “SE”: -

Table 1: Clearance “L”

POINTS	Minimum “L” (mm)	Observed “L” (mm)	Result	Min. Reqd. L (mm)
SB	10	10	Pass	--
SA	10	9.94	Fail	0.1
SC	10	0.21	Fail	10.02
SD	10	-2.41	Fail	12.41
SE	10	-5.32	Fail	15.32

2. Clearance “a”: -

Refer below snapshots for various measurements of clearances “a” at different locations as per European standard.

Clearance at “SB”: -

Clearance at “SC”: -

Table 2: Clearance “a”

POINTS	Minimum “a” (mm)	Observed “a” (mm)	Result	Min. Reqd. “a” (mm)
SB	5	44.25	Pass	--
SC	5	38.11	Pass	--

• Conclusion: -

From the above results, distance “a” results meet European standards, but distance 'L' results in Table 1 do not pass. To change the styling surface, you must send it back to the styling team, so the distance "L" he exceeds 10mm where needed. The overall results show that certain car fenders do not meet the European wheel arch standards.