Application of mixture experimental design for optimizing skid resistance and dirt pick-up properties of two-component cold plastic traffic paints

In this study, the effect of formulation components on the skid resistance and dirt pick up properties of a methyl methacrylate (MMA) based cold plastic traffic paint was evaluated. To reduce the number of experiments, mixture experimental design was used. MMA binder, Chlorinated paraffin (as a plasticizer), two different silica fillers with different average particle sizes were chosen as the key factors at different levels. A range of formulations, 18, were prepared by mechanical mixing of variables and other required components. Viscosity, skid resistance and reflection and E (before and after exposing to accelerating weathering conditions) were selected as the key responses. The results showed that the mixture experimental design was an effectual method to optimize the composition of a two-component cold plastic traffic paint formulation with respect to its properties.