Most countries have been using paint based horizontal road marking systems. These paints are either waterborne or solvent based. To ensure road safety, the paints need to be reflective, especially in the nights and overcast conditions. To increase retro-reflectivity, glass spheres are added to the paint. These are known as the Drop-on beads.

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Bolten Beads’s Drop-on beads are classified into 3 types:

• Boldai® Drop-on beads based on recycled glass material

• Bolvin® premium, high performance Drop-on beads, a mixture of recycled glass material and direct melt beads

• Vancent® premium, high performance large Drop-on beads based on 100 % direct melt glass beads.

 

Glass beads are added to the paint in the following 2 ways:

1. They are blended directly into the paint during manufacturing

2. They are added to the paint spray during application

 

These Glass beads are known as Premix (or Intermix)

Bolten Beads’ Intermix are available based on performance level as well as different particle size distributions depending on the marking component. These beads can be supplied with or without the anti-skid material.

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Bolten Beads has manufactured different types of surface treatments to improve the interaction of the drop-on beads with the binder. Surface treatments also vary depending on the type of paints as well as whether they are aromatic or non-aromatic in nature. SBP is used for paints with aromatic solvents, SBP ECO is used for non-aromatic paints and WBP range is used for waterborne paints.

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