Effects of mass and size of sand grains on the physical properties of eroded glass

We presented in this work the effect of sand mass and grains size on optical transmission and mechanical resistance of soda-lime glass subjected to sandblasting simulated in laboratory. Glass samples were sandblasted under various test conditions (projected sand masses M p: from 5 to 120 g and grains size ϕ: (300 ± 50, 1000 ± 114 and 1700 ± 175) μm). The results indicate that the size and density of defects increase when grain sizes and projected masses are enhanced, and the surface becomes more damaged. As the mass and size of the sand grains increase, the roughness and surface damage increase and reach the values of 41.2 μm and 52.7%, while for the most severe conditions (M p = 120 g, ϕ = 1700 μm), the maximum of the sizes of the defects generated on the sample surface is about 468 μm and the mechanical bending strength and optical transmission decrease significantly and reach the values of 9, 56 MPa and 12, 24%, respectively. The microscopic observations confirm our interpretations. (author)