M 248
Standard Specification for
Ready-Mixed White and Yellow Traffic Paints
1. SCOPE
1.1 This specification covers alkyd resin
type, ready-mixed white and yellow
traffic paints for use on bituminous and
portland cement concrete pavements.
1.2 Intended use of the traffic paint.
1.2.1 These paints may be reflectorized
for night visibility by adding reflective
spheres before the paint film dries or sets,
using the drop-on or pressurized meth-
ods. Generally, the reflective spheres are
evenly dispersed to a wet film of 0.38
mm (15 mils) at a rate of 600 to 720 kg/m
(5 to 6 lbs/gal) of paint. The amount may
be altered by the purchaser.
1.3 Types:
1.3.1 Type S Traffic Paint-This type is
a slow drying paint which shall be used
in areas where coning is acceptable for 1
hour or more.
1.3.2 Type N Traffic Paint-This type
has immediate drying properties and shall
be used in areas where coning of road-
way is acceptable for 15 to 30 minutes.
1.3.3 Type F Traffic Paint-This type
shall be used where faster drying time is
required with a minimum of coning. With
good drying conditions, this paint should
dry in 3 to 6 minutes if heated to 51.5 :t
2.5°C (125 -±- 5°F) in the applicator.
1.4 The values stated in SI units are to be
regarded as the standard.
NOTE-It is advisable to consult local air
pollution regulations regarding solvents prior
to selecting type paint to be used.
2. REFERENCED DOCUMENTS
2.1 ASTM Standards:
D 79 Specification for Zinc Oxide
D 211 Specification for Chrome
Yellow and Chrome Orange
D 476 Specification for Titanium
Dioxide Pigments
D 362 Specification for Industrial
Grade Toluene
D 600 Specification for Liquid Paint
Driers
D 605 Specification for Magnesium
Silicate Pigment
D 711 Test Method for NoPick-Up
Time of Traffic Paint
SPECIFICATIONS FOR MATERIALS
AASHTO DESIGNATION: M 248-91
D 740 Specification for Methyl
Ethyl Keotone
D 1199 Specification for Calcium
Carbonate Pigments
2.2 Federal Standards:
TT N-95 Naptha, Aliphatic Federal
Standard Number 595 Colors
Federal Test Method Nº 141
2.3 Military Standards:
MIL C 429 Chlorinated Paraffin,
Technical
3. CLASSIFICATION
3.1 Types-Ready-mixed alkyd resin type
paint covered by this specification shall
be furnished in the following types, as
specified in the invitation for bids, con-
tracts or order.
S - Medium oil soya modified alkyd
resin. Primary solvent is V M and
P Naphtha.
N - Medium oil soya-modified pen-
taerythritol alkyd resin; chlorin-
ated rubber, 4 to 1-primary sol-
vent is toluene.
F - Medium oil soyallinseed alkyd
resin; chlorinated rubber; chlorin-
ated paraffin; 1.03 to 1.30 to
1.00-primary solvent is MEK.
4. MATERIALS
4.1 The materials used in manufacture
shall conform to the requirements of the
following specifications:
4.1.1 Lead Chromate-ASTM D 211
Type III.
4.1.2 Titanium Dioxide-ASTM D 476
Type III Rutile (T102 80-percent purity,
minimum).
4.1.3 Calcium Carbonate-ASTM D
1199 Type GC-II.
4.1.4 Magnesium Silicate-ASTM D
605.
4.1.5 Zinc Oxide-ASTM D 79.
4.1.6 Alkyd Resin Solution Type S-The
resin shall be supplied as a 60-
masspercent solution in VM & P naph-
tha. The resin solids shall be a medium
oil soya modified resin. No rosin shall be
permitted. The oil fatty acids shall be
either alkali refined soya oil or fatty acids
of soya oil having an iodine number of
115 to 130. No recovered oil, marine or
soya food fatty acid derivatives shall be
used. The resin shall comply with the
requirements in Table 1.
4.1.7 Alkyd Resin Type N-The resin
shall be supplied as a 60-mass-percent
solution in toluene. The resin solids shall
be a medium oil soya-modified pen-
taetythritol resin. No rosin shall be per-
mitted. The oil fatty acids shall be either
alkali refined soya oil or the fatty acids of
soya oil having an iodine number of 115
to 130. No recovered oil, marine or soya
food fatty acid derivatives shall be used.
The resin shall comply with the require-
ments in Table 1.
4.1.8 Alkyd Resin Type F-The resin
shall be supplied at 60-mass-percent
solids in VM & P naphtha. The resin
solids shall be either alkali refined soya
oil or linseed oil or mixture of the two,
having an iodine number of 115 mini-
mum.
4.1.8.1 The solution must tolerate a 500-
mass-percent dilution with VM & P
naphtha. A solution containing 100 g of
20 MPa•s (20 centipoise) chlorinated
rubber, 130 g of resin solution, and 290 g
of methyl ethyl ketone shall be clear,
transparent, and show no separation after
24 hours of storage at 27 ± 3°C (80 ±
5°F) in a ¾ full test tube.
4.1.8.2 The alkyd resin, reduced to 45-
percent solids with VM & P and Naph-
tha, shall have a viscosity of D to G. The
resin shall comply with the requirements
in Table 1.
4.1.9 Chlorinated Rubber-The rubber
shall have a fixed chlorine content of
65.0-percent minimum when previously
dried at 100 ± 5°C (212 ± 9°F) for 24
hours.
4.1.9.1 A 20-mass-percent solution in
toluene shall have a maximum color of 4
(Gardner) and a Brookfield viscosity of 9
to 25 MPa•s (9 to 25 centipoises).
4.1.10 Chlorinated Paraffin-MIL
C429A.
4.1.11 VM & P Naphtha-T7-N-95.
4.1.12 Toluene-ASTM D 362.
4.1.13 Methyl Ethyl Ketone-ASTM D
740.
4.1.14 Driers-ASTM D 600 Class B.
4.1.15 Suspending Agent-Organo
Montmorillonite.
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M 248 SPECIFICATIONS FOR MATERIALS

4.1.16 Chlorinated Rubber Stabilizer for TABLE 1 Characteristics of Alkyd Resin Solutions
Type N and F paint, epichlorohydrin or Alkyd Resin Alkyd Resin Alkyd Resin
Characteristics
propylene oxide. Type S Type N Type F
Solids, mass percent 60 ± 1 60 ± 1 60 ± 1
Phthalic acid, mass percent 30 min 30 min 33-37
5. REQUIREMENTS Oil acids, mass percent 50 min 54 min 48-55
Iodine Nº 115-130 115-130 115 min
Color, gardner (max) 9 9 9
5.1 Color-The yellow paint shall match Acid number (max) 8 8 8
color chip Nº 33538 of Federal Standard- Viscosity:
595a. Reduced to 45-mass-percent solids D to H D to H D to G

5.2 Pigment-The pigment used in the

formulation of the paint shall conform to
Table H for the respective types and TABLE 2A Composition of Pigment White Traffic Paint
color. Mass Percent
5.2.1 The extracted pigment upon Type S Type N Type F
Pigment Ingredients Min Max Min Max Min Max
analysis shall conform to the quantitative
Titanium dioxide 29 31 29 31 34.0 36.0
requirements of Tables 2-A and 2-B, for Calcium carbonate 34 36 34 36 25.0 27.0
the respective types. Magnesium silicate 34 36 34 36 30.0 32.0
5.3 Vehicles-All vehicles shall be free Zinc oxide - - - - 8.0 10.0
from rosin and rosin derivatives. The
component parts of the vehicle used shall
be as indicated in Table 3 for the respec-
TABLE 2B Composition of Pigment Yellow Traffic Paint
tive types. Mass Percent
5.3.1 Types N and F shall contain 2- Type S Type N Type F
percent stabilizer based on the mass of Pigment Ingredients Min Max Min Max Min Max
chlorinated rubber. Lead chromate 33.0 36.0 34.0 36.0 34.0 36.0
Magnesium silicate 30.0 33.0 11.0 13.0 11.0 13.0
5.4 Quantitative Requirements for the Calcium carbonate 35.0 38.0 53.0 55.0 53.0 55.0
Paint-The paint shall meet the require-
ments specified in Tables 4-A and 4-B
for the respective type and color.
5.5 Qualitative Requirements: TABLE 3 Composition of Non-Volatile Vehicle White and Yellow Traffic Paint
Mass Percent
5.5.1 Condition in Container-The Type S Type N Type F
respective types of paint shall not show Vehicle Ingredients Min Max Min Max Min Max
excessive settling, gelling or curdling and Alkyd resin solids 100 - 79 81 30 32
shall be easily redispersed with a hand Chlorinated rubber - 19 21 38 40
paddle to a smooth, homogeneous state. Chlorinated paraffin - - 29 31
After storage for periods up to 6 months
from date of packaging, the pigment shall
be readily dispersed and viscosity of the
TABLE 4A Quantitative Requirements of White Paint
paint shall not have changed more than 5 Requirements
KU from that of the freshly delivered Type S Type N Type F
paint. Characteristics Min Max Min Max Min Max
5.5.2 Spraying Properties-The paint as Pigment, percent 61.0 63.0 57.0 59.0 48.0 50.0
received shall have satisfactory spraying Total solids, percent 77.0 - 75.0 - 69.5 -
and hiding properties when applied Nonvolatile vehicle, - 41.0 - 41.0 -
percent by mass of vehicle 42.0
through a nozzle on a conventional traf- Density, kg/m3 (lbs/gal) 1510 - 1582 - 1426 -
fic striper to a metal plate at a wet film (12.6) (13.2) (11.9)
thickness of 0.38 mm (15 mils). Viscosity, Krebs units 70 80 70 80 70 80
5.5.3 Appearance-The sprayed film Fineness, Hegman 3 - 3 - 4 -
shall dry to a smooth uniform finish free Drying time, minutesa - 60 - 15 - 5
a
from roughness, unevenness, and other ASTM D 711.
surface imperfections.
5.5.4 Skinning-The paint shall not skin TABLE 4B Quantitative Requirements of Yellow Paint
within 48 hours in a three-quartersfilled, Requirements
tightly closed container. Type S Type N Type F
Characteristics Min Max Min Max Min Max
Pigment, percent 61.0 63.0 60.0 62.0 50.0 52.0
6. PACKING AND MARKING Total solids, percent 77.0 - 76.5 - 70.5 -
Nonvolatile vehicle, per- - 42.0 - 40.5 -
cent by mass of vehicle 42.0
6.1 The paint shall be delivered in such Density. kg/m3 (lbs/gal) 1510 1678 1486
- - -
containers as may be specified in the (12.6) (14.0) (12.4)
contract. Each container shall bear a label Viscosity, Krebs units 70 80 70 80 70 80
with the following information shown Fineness. Hegman 3 - 3 - 4 -
thereon: name and address of manufac- Drying time. minutesa - 69 - 15 - 5
a
ASTM D 711.
turer and contractor, shipping point, trade

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M 248
mark or trade name, kind of paint, for-
mula, number of liters (gallons), date of
manufacture and lot number, title and
number of this specification, and type of
paint.
7. METHODS OF SAMPLING AND
TESTING
7.1 Except as shown in Section 6.2 the
paint shall be sampled and tested in
SPECIFICATIONS FOR MATERIALS
accordance with the appropriate method
in Federal Test Method Standard No.
141. If no method exists in the Federal
Test Method, the appropriate ASTM
Method shall be used.
NOTE 2-Because of the volatility of the
solvents used, extreme care must be taken
when testing Type F paint for pigment and
solids. It is recommended that closed contain-
ers, weighing bottles and transfer devices such
as syringes or pipettes be used. High results
for pigments and solids can be expected if
weighing precautions are not taken.
7.2 The purchaser tray utilize X-ray
analysis, gas chromatography, infra-red,
or ultra violet spectral analysis of the
paint or its components to determine
whether specified ingredients were used.
Evidence of adulteration or improper
formulation shall be cause for rejection.
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