Tribology in the automotive sealing industry

Automotive industry is one of the areas in which glass is most commonly used, especially for production of windshields and windows for vehicles. In this type of application, glass suffers repeated frictional interactions with windshield wipers and window sealing systems. This tribological engagement gives rise to multifaceted phenomena, including noise, structural vibrations and wear of the elements in contact, thereby producing discomfort and a perceptible degradation in the perceived product quality. In order to overcome these tribological challenges, comprehensive investigations have been conducted in order to clarify the complex dependencies governing the frictional interaction between glass and other parts of the vehicles. Parameters such as sliding speed, normal load, geometry of the surfaces, temperature and wetting conditions have been identified as the most critical influencers. The friction problem can be addressed by modifying either the glass surface or the material that is in sliding contact with it. The most common material for window seals and windshield wipers is thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). To ensure its optimal sliding performance, one of the prerequisites for the TPE is to have low coefficient of friction (CoF) and high hydrophobicity in order to remove the rainwater.