The purpose of this article is to explain how thermoplastic works and how it bonds to surfaces. Understanding how this product works will help you determine if thermoplastic will meet your needs and perform as expected. It will also help you to understand why the steps taken during installation are necessary.

By definition, thermoplastic is a plastic that when hot turns into a liquid and when cool hardens into a solid. It has a multitude of applications because of this characteristic. In general, the majority of preformed thermoplastics as well as regular thermoplastics are made up of Alkyd Resins, Polymers, Fillers, Glass Beads for reflectivity, and Pigments for color. The main ingredient is the Alkyd Resin. The other ingredients add desirable characteristics to the product such as wear resistance, reflectivity, and color.

For the most part, the bond that thermoplastic makes is a mechanical bond which simply means it grabs the surface and holds on much like a rock climber looks for crevices to grab while climbing. On certain surfaces, an additional bond is achieved when the hot thermoplastic and the hot surface melt and mix creating more of a cohesive bond. As stated before, the material becomes liquid when hot. When it is in this state it fills in every pore, crack, and crevice of the surface that it is on. When it cools it is locked into place. In the sections below this will be covered in more detail.

PreMark is a top heat-only product meaning that it is not necessary to preheat the surface to a predetermined temperature to install the product. Instead, you simply warm the surface to dry it, lay down your pieces, and heat from the top. When it cools it is ready for traffic. With the PreMark product, you can lay out all your pieces at one time and then apply heat. This makes applying the material easier when doing long runs.

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Thermoplastic Striping Pictures & Video