The influence of contact distribution shaping on the dynamic response of a wiper blade

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The primary function of windscreen wipers is to remove water and debris from the windscreen, ensuring the driver has a clear view of the road ahead. Predicting wiper performance at the design stage is therefore important to ensure their safe operation. There is hence a need to develop physics-based models of wiper performance that can be used as evaluative tools early in the design stage. This paper presents an analysis of the impact of changing screen curvature on the contact force distribution of a wiper blade and the subsequent effects on the transient dynamics. The contact distributions for three distinct screen curvatures and three loading points are calculated via FEA (finite element analysis) and subsequently analysed via multiple connected mass spring dampers to model the wiper blade lip transient dynamics. By analysing time and frequency domain data for several calculated contact distributions it is found that decreasing the screen curvature reduces the contact force at the centre of the blade, however, increases the amplitude of vibrations and range of frequencies observed. Additionally, it is found that moving the loading point towards the tip of the blade reduces the amplitude of vibrations, a result analogous to that of increasing the screen curvature. Based upon the understanding gained through this work the influence of design criteria on wiper blades can now be assessed, and several suggestions made as to how to reduce windscreen wiper noise.