Characterization of the sandblasted glass degradation by light scattering

In Sahara region, the sandstorms cause a serious damage of windshield vehicle. The windscreen wear for driver visibility in vehicle lighting is very important and it is related to the stay light by transmission or reflection. This paper presents a study of the light scattering transmittance and reflectance on a sandblasted soda-lime-silica glass. A stay light measurement which characterizes the level sandblasting degradation was assessed using the stay light index 'SLI'. The results show that the SLI values were found to be linearly to the surface damage and a relationship was established between the SLI and the surface roughness' Ra'. An SLI critical value which seems to be adopted as the cut-off for the use limit of wear windshield was determined.