Theses and Dissertations
ORCID
https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4412-3317
Advisor
Freyne, Seamus F.
Committee Member
Kreiner, Jonathan
Committee Member
Wang, Jun
Date of Degree
12-12-2025
Original embargo terms
Embargo 1 year
Document Type
Dissertation - Open Access
Major
Engineering (Civil Engineering)
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
College
James Worth Bagley College of Engineering
Department
Richard A. Rula School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Abstract
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) limits Airport Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) cab window glass to only annealed, uncoated, and low-iron Soda-Lime-Silica Glass (SLSG). Although this type of glass offers many benefits to air traffic control, it presents numerous challenges such as poor thermal performance and relatively high reflective properties. Despite the flawless appearance of this glass; its surfaces contain microscopic cracks which act as stress intensifiers causing diminished strength when exposed to water vapor under flexural bending. This research evaluated Low-Emissivity (Low-E), Antireflective (AR) and Self-Cleaning (SC) coatings applied to low-iron glass by both Magnetron Sputter Vacuum Deposition (MSVD) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) for use in ATCT cab glazing systems. The theorized complementary structural benefits of CVD coated glass were also investigated. Compared to uncoated low-iron, the AR glass exhibited a 3.91% increase in Visible Light Transmittance (VLT) and 3.83% decrease in Visible Light Reflectance (VLR). The AR coatings negligibly impacted transmission of Signal Light Gun (SLG) illuminates with color changes near or below the level of human perception. The self-cleaning glass demonstrated slightly higher transmitted SLG color deviations along with a 3.31% decrease in VLT and 4.84% increase in VLR. The highest SLG color deviations and VLT reductions were associated with the Low-E group. Test data was used to develop a regression model estimating the transmitted SLG color change through any type of glass using chroma as the independent variable. It was estimated that a maximum 2.95 glass chroma would result in aviation compliant SLG transmissions. Structural investigations suggested that CVD coated glass inhibit environmentally induced stress corrosion. This is substantiated by test results indicating flexural strength increases of artificially weathered CVD coated specimens of 14.8%, 16.2%, and 16.4% at probabilities of failure of 0.50, 0.008, and 0.001, respectively. These strength increases were contradictory to testing conducted on new glass under a higher loading rate where the CVD coated glass revealed a 22.80% reduction in the mean failure strength. These findings are not necessarily applicable to exterior glazed units and do not negate aforementioned strength increases.
Recommended Citation
McCormick, Daniel Brian, "An evaluation of performance coated glass for potential use in airport traffic control tower cab glazing systems" (2025). Theses and Dissertations. 6763.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/6763
