How to solve the problem of glass beads falling off due to the thin thickness of road marking construction

The reflective performance of road markings is directly related to nighttime driving safety, and glass beads are the core material for nighttime reflective markings. If the coating of the marking line is too thin during construction, it will result in insufficient depth of glass bead embedding, rapid detachment after vehicle rolling, causing reflection failure and a sudden reduction in service life. Henan San Aisi Transportation Technology Co., Ltd. has been deeply involved in the field of road marking for 30 years. Combining more than a thousand engineering practice experiences, we will dissect the root causes of problems and provide full process solutions for you.

1、 Three core causes of glass bead detachment

Insufficient thickness of markings

Improper adjustment of construction equipment scraper or excessive vehicle speed, resulting in coating thickness below the standard (such as hot-melt marking<1.5mm);

Deliberately thinning the coating to save costs prevents the glass beads from being fully wrapped by the coating.

Poor material adaptability

Insufficient viscosity of the coating (low resin content), weak wrapping force after curing, and glass beads are easily peeled off by the tire;

The size of glass beads does not match the thickness of the coating (such as large beads used for thin coatings).

Process and environmental defects

Inappropriate timing of bead spraying: excessive sinking caused by bead spraying when the coating is too hot, and weak adhesion caused by bead spraying when it is too cold;

Construction in low temperature/humid environment: The coating solidifies slowly, and the glass beads are taken away by the vehicle without being embedded.

2、 Four step efficient solution

1. Emergency repair of detached markings

Local reinforcement: Clean up the detached area, apply three high adhesion adhesive base glue, reapply the original coating and accurately sprinkle beads;

Overall coverage: For large areas of failure, apply a 0.3mm reinforcement layer and sprinkle beads twice.

2. Upgrading Materials Science

Adhesive coating: using high resin content coating (with a 50% increase in adhesion) to enhance the wrapping of glass beads;

Intelligent bead selection solution: thin coating (1.0-1.8mm) with 250-350 mesh fine beads; Standard coating (1.8-2.5mm) with 1-3 universal beads.

3. Precise process control

Thickness dynamic monitoring: Ultrasonic thickness gauges are used for sampling every 200 meters during construction, and equipment is adjusted immediately if the deviation is greater than 0.2mm;

Optimization of timing for bead casting:

Hot melt coating: Sprinkle beads when the material temperature drops to 190 ℃ (the best embedding depth is 50% -60%);

Two component coating: complete bead spreading within 20 seconds before surface drying.

4. Intelligent transformation of equipment

Scraper pressure adaptive system: automatically adjusts the discharge amount according to road surface undulations to ensure uniform thickness;

Closed loop control of bead spreader: Real time monitoring of coating temperature and vehicle speed, dynamically adjusting bead amount and height.

3、 Preventive construction standards

Base surface pretreatment: repair road potholes (depth>3mm needs to be filled flat) to avoid local coating being too thin.

Environmental adaptation strategy: Low temperature environment (<5 ℃): Use Three Ais cold resistant fast curing coating+preheated substrate;

Wet road surface: Spray quick drying primer to block water vapor infiltration.

Full process quality inspection: During acceptance, the reflectivity value (starting from 150mcd according to the national standard) is detected using a retroreflector. If it is lower than the standard, immediate rework is required.

4、 TOP ROAD’s technological empowerment

Regarding the pain points of glass bead detachment, TOP ROAD provides:

✅ Customized solution for “lifelong bead fixation”:

Nano modified resin coating, with a 70% increase in glass bead wrapping strength;

Gradient bead spreading process (bottom layer pre mixed beads+surface layer bead spreading), dual reflective guarantee.

✅ Intelligent construction system:

Thickness self-adjusting marking vehicle (error ≤ 0.1mm);

Temperature controlled synchronous bead spreading machine, with a bead spreading accuracy of 99%.

✅ Full cycle guarantee:

Free base surface inspection and customized process before construction;

During the warranty period, if the glass bead detachment rate exceeds 5%, free rework and traffic control fees will be borne.

Our company is a professional manufacturer of road hot-melt coatings, road retroreflective measuring instruments, and road marking machines. If you are interested, please feel free to communicate with me via email at any time export@toproadtraffic.com