The experts started the revision of the regulatory text.

Annex 17
The Chair proposed some improvement in the wording, per document IGPG-06-08 (revised during the meeting). The group agreed to further improve this proposal per some references to UN R22. The question of the curvature of the sample was raised in the case of the sand drop test because the angle of sand drop should not vary to more than a certain extent. The experts also discussed the fact that glass shows less abrasion resistance than plastic in the case of sand drop test. Plastic material has an elastic bounce effect, while glass has a “plastic” bounce effect.

The experts agreed to take the opportunity of this revision for requiring an initial haze value of 1%.

A debate took place about the relevancy of using delta haze as a parameter for measuring the resistance to abrasion.

Concerning the car wash test, the experts agreed that the value of 10 cycles is sufficient, and even quite demanding. The car wash test can be very difficult to fulfil for some coatings, and on the other hand, it is possible to adjust the coating to the kind of abrasion test to be performed. The experts were also reluctant to start a new round robin for this test.

Annex 18:
Presentation from Evonik IGPG-06-04 for side windows. 3 tests, interlayer thickness of 0.6 mm. F challenged that the plastic glazings have a drop height different to that of glass. The delegate from F found not logical that the test parameters are defined for making the current products fulfilling the performance requirements.

The experts recalled that toughened glasses have a drop height of 2m, and that this discussion was already held at TAAM where KBA is willing to grant approvals to glazing of category M for backlights and sidelights. The interpretation is that when there are exterior rear-view mirrors, the view through the backlights is not compulsory and there is no need for a light transmission of more than 70%. A similar reasoning is deemed valid for the resistance to abrasion of the backlight.

Hence Annex 21 should be corrected accordingly.

The delegate from France took the example of motorhomes, where he noted that tests on glasses in the passenger part of the vehicle according to Annex 21 is sometimes not performed on all vehicles (while they all conform to Annex 14); he proposed to clarify the wording of Annex 21 with this regard. He deplored that the proposed performance requirements of the IGPG does not provoke any progress in the plastic glazing compared to the current situation. The quality of the front side windows should be very high as it is necessary to look through these glasses when looking into the exterior rear-view mirrors.

The experts agreed about the need for an in-depth revision of Annex 21 as a result of the implementation of plastic glazing as windscreens in the regulation.

Paragraph 6 of Annex 18: the delegates faced the debate of copy/pasting for the side windows the alternative discussed for the windscreens, i.e. Taber test vs. set of 3 tests. However the two types of windows experience different situations.
Conclusion: Mr. Pichon (F) volunteered to draft a text for the next meeting, with the help of the Secretary. Work to be done for both annexes 17 and 18.

The experts reviewed the proposal from Dr. Buckel about the description of the car-wash test and its equipment (IGPG-06-06). A debate took place about the possibility of making a simple reference to the ISO standard. The group agreed to introduce the provisions into the text of the regulation as the standard is currently revised.

A debate started on the possibility of performing a round robin test on the car-wash test method.

However only one company (Bayer) among the participants did own their car wash test equipment.

Bayer was reluctant to undertake such round robin campaign because in addition to the number of existing equipment, the frequency of utilization by the Technical Services is of some importance as well. In addition, a reference material was also lacking.

As a conclusion, no round robin test was considered possible. It was agreed to introduce the car wash test into Annex 3.