Analysis of Reversal Behavior for an Automobile Wiper Blade

The development of a numerical simulation has been demanded for improving the automobile wiper systems from the industrial viewpoints. It is widely known that, however, vibrations caused by the wiping motion cause a trouble of wiping. Several studies have been carried out to investigate the dynamic behavior of the wiper systems. However, the phenomena have not yet been theoretically analyzed. The purpose of this research is to develop a numerical simulation of the reversal behavior of a wiper blade. To begin with, the experiment was conducted with the real wiper systems to observe the reversal behavior of the wiper blade. After observing its motion, an analytical model was developed to essentially characterize the wiper systems. The model is composed of a multi-degree-of-freedom spring-mass system with restraint conditions to ensure the contact between a blade and a wind-shield at all time. The dynamic motion and the mechanism of the reversal behavior of the wiper blade were investigated by using nonlinear equations. Furthermore, the above phenomena were discussed using the nonlinear equations of the vibration of the wiper blade from the viewpoint of the nonlinear dynamics.Copyright © 2007 by ASME