Road Marking with Thermoplastic Paint

 Thermoplastic Paint for Road Marking

Thermoplastic is heat sensitive synthetic resign which turns into viscous liquid when heated to 180-200 degree Celsius. Thermoplastic paint uses Zinc oxide (white) and Yellow Lead (Yellow) as coloring agent. Compared to other paints, thermoplastic paint is resistant to skid, temperature, wear & tear. Thus these features of thermoplastic paint makes it suitable to use in road marking work. 

Commercially available packets of thermoplastic paint are of 25 Kg. By default the paint is white in color. A packet of yellow lead is placed inside the bag is mixed with melted paint in a boiler if yellow painting is required.

Norms For Thermoplastic Paint

• Binder:Filler:Glass Beads:Pigment ration is  >18 : <42 : 30-40 : 1 (However commercially available thermoplastic paint are already in proportion, thus glass beads & pigments are only to be considered)
• Application: 4 kg/sq.m
  
• Thickness: 2 mm (a thickness of a coin)
• Laying temperature: 180 degree Celsius. 

Tips & Trick for Thermoplastic Painting Work

• Make sure the road surface is clean, dust free. Use of air compressor to clean road surface is highly recommended.
• Don't overheat the paint. Overheating turns paint into dark brown color.
• Prepare initial marking with chalks or rope before you start laying.
• While laying make sure the paint is hot enough that glass partially embed inside the paint. If the laying temperature of paint is less than 155 degree Celsius, the glass beads doesn't penetrate inside the paint. 
• Check the thickness of paint. If the thickness is lesser, glass beads can't dip but just float over painted surface. To check the thickness place a paper over the road surface. Remove paper after paint is succeeded. Once the paper is removed, the left over road is painted. 
• Use the dye of either 15 cm or 10 cm according to the requirement.
  

 Equipment Require for Thermoplastic Paint:

• Boiler - It consists of mechanically operated rotor and gas oven to heat 5-10 bags paint.
• Spreader - It consists of manually operated rotor, gas stove, dye, glass bead holder and tank to hold 1 bag of melted paint.