Tribological Study of the Rubber Blade with the Infrared Thermography System

A new approach to determine the friction coefficient at the glass/rubber interface is described. It is based on the study of the frictional heating by means of infrared thermography.

In the case of wiping systems, satisfactory properties must be fulfilled such as wiping quality, durability and silence; thus a specific treatment is performed on the rubber part after the vulcanization process. In order to decrease and stabilize the friction coefficient, a chlorination treatment with graphite layer has been followed.

The goal of this work is to enhance and optimize the frictional coefficient on the rubber blade. From a modelisation method (Fourier's equation) of the temperature distribution in the lip of the rubber and in the glass the friction coefficient can be related to the frictional heating.

The thermal measurements from the infrared thermography display that the increase of chlorine added leads to a decrease of the friction coefficient. With the graphited rubber samples the frictional coefficient is lower.