RESEARCH ARTICLE
A Simple Mechanical Model for a Wiper Blade Sliding and Sticking Over a Windscreen
R. Barsotti, S. Bennati*, F. Quattrone
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2016Volume: 10
First Page: 51
Last Page: 65
Publisher Id: TOMEJ-10-51
DOI: 10.2174/1874155X01610010051
Article History:
Received Date: 25/05/2015Revision Received Date: 14/08/2015
Acceptance Date: 01/09/2015
Electronic publication date: 21/04/2016
Collection year: 2016
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International Public License (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode), which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
From the mechanical standpoint, wiper blades may be thought of as belonging to a category of systems in which some components are forced to slide with friction over each other or over some rough surface. Such systems, which are in widespread use in all areas of modern engineering, exhibit complex dynamic behavior, even when only a small number of degrees of freedom are involved. In this paper we reconsider a well-known, simple mechanical model in which a rigid block connected to a linear spring is free to slide over a rough surface. The surface moves according to a prescribed sinusoidal law. The model, despite its apparent simplicity, proves to be quite useful for studying the main dynamic features of such systems. In particular, herein the equations of motion are solved analytically and the exact sequence of sticking and sliding phases found. The influence on the solution of three dimensionless parameters chosen to describe the system is investigated, and some early indications provided on the set of possible long-term system responses. Lastly, a first evaluation of the different limit cycles for the block’s motion is illustrated.