Study of the Effects of Sand Blasting on Soda Lime Glass Erosion

Abstract

In Saharian regions, the erosion of glass by sand particles during sandstorms is a regular phenomenon. The progressive loss of matter on surface affects both the optical transmission and the mechanical strength. In the present work, we examine the effects of sand blasting on the erosion of soda lime glass intended for vehicles windshields manufacture. We used a sand coming from Algerian Sahara (Ouargla) which is characterized by a mostly rounded shape. All sand blasting erosion tests were simulated in laboratory. The erosive wear of soda lime glass is evaluated at different impingement angles (30, 45, 60 and 90°, with sand masses varying from 10 to 300 g and three different velocities (16, 20 and 24 m/s). The results obtained show that the erosion rate (Er), the mean roughness (Ra) and the mass loss (∆m) reach their maximum at 90° (flow normal to the surface). After exposure to a sand mass of 300 g at normal incidence, the glass surface becomes totally blurred. The ∆m of the glass is 54 mg and the Ra reaches about 3.57µm and the optical transmission (To) is affected proportionally to the sand mass used (mP). It decreases from 91.5% down to 12 % when the mass reaches 300 g. The morphologies of eroded surface were examined by the scanning electronic microscopy. From these observations, we noticed that the erosion mechanism is often of a brittle kind characterized by the formation of radial and lateral cracks that develop into chippings.
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