Truck with bright blue mud flaps on the rear wheel wells and bumper
A
mudflap
or
mud guard
is used in combination with the
vehicle fender
to protect the vehicle, passengers, other vehicles, and pedestrians from
mud
and other flying
debris
thrown into the air by the rotating
tire
. A mudflap is typically made from a flexible material such as
rubber
that is not easily damaged by contact with flying debris, the tire, or the
road
surface.
On bicycles the mudflap is called a
spoiler
. It helps keep the rider(s) cleaner.
Mudflaps can be large rectangular sheets suspended behind the tires, or may be small molded lips below the rear of the vehicle's wheel wells. Mudflaps can be aerodynamically engineered, utilizing shaping, louvers or vents to improve airflow and lower drag.
[1]
While some flaps are plain, in the colour of rubber, many contain company
logos
, other art or sometimes
advertisements
. Another is the
mudflap girl
, a woman's
silhouette
.
[2]
In the United States, there are mudflap regulations that vary from state to state.
[3]
Aerodynamic
[
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]
Aerodynamic louvered mudflap
Aerodynamic mudflaps are engineered with
louvers
or ventilated slats to improve airflow, reduce sidespray, and decrease
aerodynamic drag
, in order to improve
fuel efficiency
.
Supercomputing
technology applied to the problem of
semi-trailer truck
drag has helped to validate such aerodynamic improvements.
[4]
Traditional solid truck mudflaps can increase drag, but a study by the
UT-Chattanooga SimCenter
indicated slatted mudflaps can reduce drag more than 8 percent, making the truck's drag coefficient comparable to one without any mudflaps fitted.
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
A further advantage of the design is the heat-venting capacity of aerodynamically optimized mudflaps. The improved airflow promotes the quick release of otherwise re-circulated water and air from the fenderwell while improving performance by cooling the tires and brakes.
See also
[
edit
]
Look up
mudflap
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
References
[
edit
]