Improving the Wet Track Abrasion of Asphalt Emulsion Sealers

• Published in: Paint & Coatings Industry 2021-01, Vol.37 (1), p.42-46
• Main Authors: Mcjunkins, Joe, Prezzavento, Bruce, Curcio, Anthony
• Format: Magazinearticle
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abrasion resistant coatings; Asphalt; Chemicals; Curing; Formulations; Image analysis; Load; Physical properties; Sealers; Sealing compounds; Temperature; Test methods
• ISSN: 0884-3848; 2328-8329

Review of the Physical Properties of Fibrillated HDPE The process for producing a wet lap fibrillated HDPE fiber has been previously described.1 These fibers, produced by Mitsui Chemicals, Inc., are used in a wide variety of applications, including wet laid nonwovens (Figure 1). Each photo was subjected to image analysis to determine the ratio of the areas of light (crack) and dark (film) parts of the sample.2 As an example, illustrated by the digital photograph in Figure 2, the coating that consistently produced the lowest degree of contiguous film was the control formula containing no fiber at curing temperatures of either 45,55, or 65 °F. As shown in Figures 2a, 2b and 2c, the degree of film formation increased progressively with the incorporation of higher load rates by weight. According to the ISSA TB-100 testing protocol, as illustrated in Figure 8, the wet track abrasion resistance of nine selected asphalt emulsion films with and without fibrillated HDPE fiber was compared.5 All of the eight formulations that contained fibrillated HDPE fiber exhibited lower abrasion mass loss and higher abrasion resistance than that of the control formula with no fiber.