Dry Abrasion Wear of Windshield Glass and its Effect on Night Driving

Abstract

Windshield wipers are safety equipment for cars, especially for maintaining clear vision during inclement weather circumstances as rain, snow, or sleet. Windshield glass plays a crucial role in protecting driver visibility and safety, particularly during night-time conditions. Windshield wipers are employed on windshields to clear the windshield of water, snow, grime and other debris so that the driver can see clearly. However, when the glass surface is cleaned with wipers, continuous exposure to various external variables, such as dust, sand, etc., can result in the formation of dry abrasion wear. Motive of present research is to examine; how dry abrasion wear affects windshield glass and its effect on night-time driving. In the past, numerous studies demonstrating windshield wear have been conducted, but none in India, where the amount of dust and debris in the air is more than in other nations. Additionally, no studies have looked into windshield wear under actual environmental conditions. The wearing of windshield glass and its effect on visibility at night have been examined through a number of tests. A proper setup with a functioning wiper mechanism was designed to abrade the windshield with the dust accumulated in natural environmental conditions. Different wear regions on the windshields were identified and high-resolution night photography was carried out to observe the impact of windshield wear during night-time driving. To assess windshield wear, the roughness of the windshield glass was also tested. Using the EDS method, the constituents of the dust that was deposited on the windshield glass were also assessed. The findings from the experiments shows that dry abrasion wear has a substantial impact on the windshield glass surface and increases light scattering at night. It is also verified that as the number of wiper cycles on the windshield increases, the wear increases, i.e., the scattering of light is greater in the regions where the wiper cycles are higher. Another important finding reveals that new wiper blade damages the windshield glass more than the old wiper blade, as it has a better area of contact.