COMPOSITION AND REMOVAL OF AUTOMOBILE WINDSHIELD FILMS

IN AN EFFORT TO ALLEVIATE IMPAIRED VISIBILITY CAUSED BY AUTOMOBILE WINDSHIELD FILMS, THE ORIGIN AND NATURE OF THE DIRT AND RESIDUES THAT FORM WINDSHIELD FILMS AND THE MOST EFFECTIVE METHODS OF REMOVING THEM WERE INVESTIGATED. SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED FROM WINDSHIELDS AND PAVEMENT SURFACES, AND THEIR COMPOSITION WAS DETERMINED BY INFRARED SPECTROPHOTOMETRY, X-RAY DIFFRACTOMETRY, AND BINOCULAR AND PETROGRAPHIC MICROSCOPY. CLEANING AGENTS AND CLEANING PROCEDURES WERE EVALUATED IN THE LABORATORY USING AN AUTOMOBILE WINDSHIELD. THE MATERIALS COMPRISING THE FILMS ARE MOSTLY THOSE ON OR DERIVED FROM THE PAVEMENT SURFACE. THEY CONSIST OF ORGANIC CONSTITUENTS: OIL, OXIDIZED OIL, RUBBER, ASPHALT, AND GREASE. INSECT FRAGMENTS AND RESIDUES OF INSECT FLUIDS ARE USUALLY ABUNDANT. THE INORGANIC CONSTITUENTS ARE ALMOST ENTIRELY MINERALS, USUALLY QUARTZ AND LAYERED SILICATES SUCH AS MICA AND CLAY MINERALS. GENERALLY, THE MINERAL COMPOSITION OF THE FILMS REFLECTS THE LITHOLOGY OF THE AGGREGATES USED IN THE ROAD. THE ALCOHOL-DETERGENT TYPE OF CLEANING AGENT WAS FOUND TO BE SUPERIOR TO THE PREDOMINANTLY DETERGENT, PREDOMINANTLY ALCOHOL, AMMONIA, AND SILICONE EMULSION TYPES. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1971/344/344-002.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Sponsored by Committee on Vehicle Characteristics. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Plaster, Rodger W
  • Ozol, Michael A
• Publication Date: 1971

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 21-32
• Monograph Title: Vehicle characteristics
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 344
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alcohols; Cleansers; Detergents; Film; Laboratory tests; Materials selection; Soils; Visibility; Waste products (Materials); Windshields
• Uncontrolled Terms: Dirt; Removal
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223494
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: HS-011 999
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jun 29 1971 12:00AM