Retroreflection (night visibility)
With many different markings (including road markings), visibility is a quality feature that needs to be checked. The retroreflection of road markings is generated by glass beads that protrude from the road marking surface and depends on various factors, such as:
• Embedding depth / size
• quantity
• quality
Safety through visibility
A clearly visible road marking with high photometric properties is of great importance, as this increases road safety. By reducing the number of accidents, the follow-up costs are lowered. There are different methods to assess the visibility of road markings:
- Night visibility RL (luminance coefficient for retroreflection)
- Day visibility Qd (luminance coefficient under diffuse lighting)
Optimal embedding of glass beads
The optimal embedding of glass beads is between 50 % and 60 % to ensure high retroreflection.
Glass beads that are too deeply embedded break the headlamp light mainly in the glass bead part below the road surface and too much embedding of glass beads causes the light to pass over them.
When distributing the glass beads on the marking, care must be taken to ensure that there is an optimum distance between the glass beads. An excess of glass beads causes a "shadow effect", whereby glass beads are consumed without having any influence on increasing visibility, which is not economical.
Consultation Request
We at HOFMANN know exactly which application methods and marking machines are suitable for your next marking project. Send us a consulting request and benefit from our more than 60 years of experience in the field of road marking.
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