How can we measure the friction on wiper blades?

WHY

Wiper blades are of great importance to the safety of the driver. In reality they can operate under different speeds (various scales in the car) or under different lubrication conditions (from dry to wet with thin or thick film of water). To simulate these conditions in lab scale you need to have a versatile apparatus and you will need to use the actual components to be as close to reality as possible.  

HOW

A Basalt-S2 was used to simulate the motion of the wiper blades (reciprocating nonlinear sliding motion). A sprinkler can be added to the apparatus to spray different volumes of water at different intervals. The aim is to simulate the “actual” conditions. Glass was used as a countermaterial. In this application we first present the effect of water in the friction of commercial wipers and secondly we compare different wipers for the same conditions (speed, load, water volume) to have a ranking. With the same setup the effect of particles (e.g. sand, dust etc.) can also be studied by either changing the composition of the water that is sprayed onto the glass, or by applying a layer soil/dust directly on the glass.

 

 

RESULT

• The Basalt-S2 can be used to measure the friction of wiper blades in contact with glass.
• The frictional behavior of a wiper strongly depends on the speed, water volume and particle concentration.
• A ranking between different commercial wiper blades at various conditions is possible.