An experimental investigation into factors affecting the soiling of glass mirrors

This paper describes experimental work performed at Cranfield University to investigate some of the factors that affect the soiling of glass mirrors. An experimental test rig was built and the factors tested were temperatures, particle size, relative humidity, the type of sand, and the drop height of the particles. The results showed that humidity had the largest effect on the amount of sand that stuck to the mirror. In addition whether the sand was natural or artificial also seemed to have an effect on the results, perhaps due to soluble materials.