SAATHAF

Our aim is to develop transparent surfaces that are non-stick to various types of pollution (insect impact, etc.) and can be maintained under standard conditions for railway operations (target speed 300km/h). These last two criteria represented, and still represent, technological challenges. Transparent impregnated polymer surfaces that provide a clear, sharp image of objects placed in contact will be studied, along with their outstanding water-repellent properties, before being tested in a wind tunnel at very high speeds. Once tested in wind tunnels at air speeds of up to 300 km/h, we'll place ourselves under certain manufacturing conditions (level of texturing, type of surface treatment, nature of impregnating oil) to maintain these properties. We will demonstrate, for the first time, that the resilience tests presented in the literature for these impregnated surfaces (dip coating: soaking cycle in water) can be reconciled with high-speed wind tunnel tests.

Below, a video showing the effectiveness of a windscreen air-jet control system aimed at deflecting the trajectory of an insect and thus avoiding its impact on the glass wall.