Effect of Reflective Media Size on Retroreflectivity Performance of Pavement Markings

Overview

The experiment was designed to study the retroreflectivity performance of glass beads in providing night visibility under simulated road conditions. The simulation included evaluation of retroreflectivity with newly installed and weathered pavement markings under wet, dry, plowed, unplowed pavement conditions. The experiment included using Powder Reflective Beads (Type 1, Mesh 100-200), Standard DOT Reflective Beads (Type 1, 45-850 microns), Airport Quality Reflective Beads (Type 4, Mesh 12-30) and Large Deco Molded Reflective Beads (Type 4, 3mm). The glass beads were broadcasted to saturation over 12 panels with white coating and 12 panels with yellow coating to simulate the most commonly used pavement markings. The glass beads were applied using a single drop method when using a single bead type, and a double drop method when using two bead types. The experimental data supported the hypothesis as the Large Molded Deco Beads had the highest retroreflectivity measurements of 95.3 mcd/lux/m2 on the yellow-coated samples that have been exposed to weathering and plowing conditions. . However, the experimental data did not support the hypothesis as the double drop combination of Large Molded Deco beads and Standard DOT beads exhibited the highest retroreflectivity measurements of 221.5 mcd/lux/m2 on the white-coated panels exposed to plowing and weathering conditions. The experimental results further showed that white panels with all glass beads configurations exhibited higher retroreflectivity measurements than any yellow panels. The results also showed that wet conditions, plowing and weathering reduced retroreflectivity readings by 6.3%-58.5% for yellow samples and by 42.3%-69.4% for white samples. Other factors such as color of the coating, reflective bead embedment, and the roundness and clarity of the reflective beads had an impact on the retroreflectivity readings.

Competition history

• AJAS 2020 Category not listed

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