Windscreen Design

P J Pennells

Modern car glazing is a prominent feature of a
vehicle and a key element in design and styling
with steep angles of rake, flush mounting and
shapes that blend into the bodywork to improve
aerodynamics and reduce wind noise. This
presents a challenge to suppliers in the glass
industry in terms of the achievement of more
complex surface designs for windscreens toget-her
with satisfactory transmitted and reflected
optical quality and performance.
The optical quality of a windscreen is primarily
a function of the design curvature, angle of
installation and the forming method used for the
bending process.
The effect of design parameters and rake
angle can be determined from application of the
fundamental laws of optics, and finite elemental
modelling techniques using numerical algorithms
have been developed to simulate optical image
tracing, glass forming and process manipulation.
Using these techniques, guidelines for design
parameters can be specified for various glass
shaping and bending processes.

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