State of Knowledge and Current Challenges in Defrosting Automotive Windshields

Rapid and effective windshield defrosting has been the goal of various investigations by automotive engineers around the world. Car manufacturers have invested considerable resources to satisfy the thermal needs, safety requirements, and comfort demands of their customers. This paper addresses the climate control issues of defrosting automotive windshields. The paper summarizes the state of knowledge of the various approaches for improving defroster performance. Experimental as well as computational efforts, accompanied by heating techniques and heat boosters will be presented. The paper also features relevant measurement methods for airflow and thermal patterns, and discusses current challenges. Recommendations are made on where to focus engineering and design efforts given the state of present technologies.