Numerical investigation of turbulent flow over a windscreen wiper blade

Windshield wipers were developed to improve visibility during inclement weather and belong to standard safety equipment. A conventional wiping system of a vehicle consists of three components; namely, motor and mechanism, wiper arm and wiper blade. The wiper arm transfers the movement to the wiper blade and cleaning is achieved by wiping water and dirt from the windscreen by a blade rubber. In order to wipe water and dirt from the windscreen, the wiper blade should be forced onto the windscreen with a specified force. The necessary force is obtained by the spring mechanism within the arm. In this study the effect of free-stream velocity, turbulence models on the drag and lifting forces acting on the windshield wiper and spoiler geometry are investigated numerically. The spoiler geometry is modified to reduce the lifting force.