Improvement of the Optical Properties of Sandblasted Glass by Depositing Acrylic Coatings

In their different applications in Saharan regions, ordinary glass products (glazes, cars windshields, solar panels protecting glass etc.) are exposed to inevitable sandblasting effect caused by frequent sandstorms. The surface flaws induced by sand particle's impact lead to a deterioration of the glass strength and optical transmission. In this work, the effect of acrylic coatings on the optical properties of sandblasted glass is established. After that, the effect of subsequent sandblasting on the coated glass is studied. Obtained results show that sandblasting causes a considerable drop in the optical transmission (from 91.5% to 14.6%). Depositing acrylic coatings allows increasing significantly the optical transmission (~ 87%). Under the subsequent sandblasting, the optical transmission of the coated glasses falls from its initial value (T = 87%) to approximately 22%, which is somewhat better than the transmission of the sandblasted glass (T = 14.6%).