Development status of reflective film market
1. Glass bead type-traditional type
In the 1930s, based on the inspiration of the cat’s eye, the American 3M company invented the retroreflective technology of glass beads, using the microlens technology of glass beads and the metal reflective layer on the back of the glass beads. The incident light is refracted by the glass beads and focused on the reflective layer, and then reflected from the focus back to the glass beads, and then returned to the direction of the light source by refracting again. The glass bead technology has experienced three development stages: the lens exposed type, the lens embedded type, and the sealed capsule type, and reached its peak in the 1970s.
However, some inherent defects of glass beads have been difficult to overcome: First, only 28% of the surface of the glass beads can achieve retroreflectivity; second, the glass beads are spherical objects, no matter how closely they are arranged, they will There are some gaps where the light cannot be reflected back. These factors greatly limit the further development of glass bead reflective technology. However, due to its price advantage, in India, Pakistan, Latin America, and Africa, some countries that rarely used reflective materials will still generate huge demand with their economic development.
2. Micro prism type-high-precision variety in reflective film
In the late 1980s, a new generation of retroreflective technology—prism technology was born. The basic reaction unit is a triangular prism. Due to its special shape and the unique refractive index of the material, the incident light can be controlled to achieve three total reflections inside it. At the same time, it overturns the spherical shape of the glass beads, which can be arranged tightly without a large number of gaps, which greatly improves the light reflection efficiency. Prisms are divided into triangular prism technology and full prism technology. The full prism breaks through the deficiencies caused by the truncated angle structure in the triangular prism. The core part of the reflective part is recombined into a full prism, which makes the light diffraction phenomenon more significant, and theoretically achieves 100% reflective. The micro-prism type has the characteristics of higher retroreflectivity, longer service life, and cutting-edge processing technology. The retroreflective brightness can reach more than 800 Kandelas per square meter, which is more than twice the retroreflective brightness of glass beads. At the same time, the production process is simpler, the cost is lower, and the processing process is more environmentally friendly. After the birth of retroreflective technology, the world's first reflective film was successfully developed by 3M in the United States and used in traffic signs. Engineering-grade reflective film and high-strength reflective film are two typical applications of early glass bead technology, while super reflective film uses triangular prism technology, and diamond reflective film uses the latest all-prism reflective technology. The most advanced reflective film at present.
On December 31, 2012, the new national standard of "Road Traffic Reflective Film" GB/T18833-2012 was officially promulgated and officially implemented on June 1, 2013. Compared with GB/T 18833-2002, which was implemented in 2002, the main change of the new national standard 10 years later is to strengthen the position of micro-prism reflective film. The new national standard reclassifies road traffic reflective films. Microprism reflective films can cover all categories, while the previously popular glass microbead reflective materials in high-grade reflective materials are subject to more restrictions. The promulgation and implementation of the new national standard is not only the adjustment of domestic reflective materials, but also has a greater impact on the future trend of reflective film.
2. Forecast of market demand for reflective film
1. The field of road signs and signs
The demand for reflective film is closely related to the construction of road projects in my country. With the development of the national economy, road traffic has developed rapidly. The mileage of roads and railways in my country has increased, and the high-speed and informatization of traffic engineering has become the general trend. At the same time, with the acceleration of the urbanization process in my country, there are more and more urban roads. It has become more comprehensive and complex. During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, China’s expressway investment growth momentum will continue. By 2020, the country’s expressway mileage will increase by 46,000 kilometers, and the expressway mileage will reach 169,000 kilometers, a growth rate of 37%. Expressway investment It may reach 3 trillion yuan.
A certain number of signs and signs need to be set up for new roads every year. At the same time, since the service life of the reflective film is 3-7 years, a large number of signs and signs need to be updated every year. According to the development trend of highway construction and the calculation in Chapter 4, it is conservatively estimated that the reflective film will maintain a compound annual growth rate of about 2.67% in the field of highway traffic signs and signs in the next five years.
In the railway field, the application of reflective film in signs and signs will also maintain an annual market scale of 180,000 to 200,000 square meters. In the field of urban road signage, because urban roads have the characteristics of many intersections, dense signs and signs, complicated traffic conditions, and many types of signs, the use of reflective film at an intersection is at least 67M2; at the same time, a large number of urban roads need to be installed Street signs, lane signs, house signs, and place name signs of districts, communities, tourism, vacations, and memorial areas. Generally, the amount of reflective film for street signs, lane signs, and house signs on urban roads per kilometer is about 16M2, and the reflection of each place name sign The film dosage is 0.8M2. With the acceleration of the national urbanization process and the standardized transformation of existing urban road administration facilities, the demand for reflective film for urban street signs, house signs, street signs, lane signs and place names will continue to grow.
2. Motor vehicle license plate and body reflective marking field
The field of vehicle license plates and body reflective signs is another important market for reflective film applications. Especially in the field of body reflective markings, it is affected by the policy "Notice on Further Strengthening the Supervision and Management of Road Motor Vehicle Production Consistency and Registration" that was recently issued. Large and medium-sized passenger cars, heavy and medium-sized trucks, commercial vehicle transport vehicles and trailers, etc. More types of motor vehicles have been compulsorily required to stick body reflective markings; plus the replacement cycle of body reflective markings is generally 3 years, and 30% of vehicles need to be replaced with body reflective markings every year. Therefore, the field of body reflective markings There is a large demand for reflective film. According to the calculations in Chapter 4, there is a greater demand for reflective films for motor vehicle bodies and newly-added car license plates.
Reflective film market development trend
1. Agricultural reflective film
In recent years, reflective films have been further applied in agriculture, and agricultural reflective films have entered people's sight. The special reflective film for fruit trees, such as the special reflective film for citrus, is a good example. This kind of reflective film mainly increases the light time and intensity, thereby increasing photosynthesis and improving the quality of citrus.
Agricultural reflective film is a new material used in agriculture to increase temperature and supplement light. The reflective film has the characteristics of water resistance, pot alkali resistance, high reflectivity, low cost and long life. Years of production tests show that the application of reflective film in the production of vegetables, fruit trees, flowers and open-air orchards can effectively reduce expenditure and increase income. Especially for the Dapeng greenhouse with low temperature and less sunshine in winter, the application of reflective film can significantly increase the light time and intensity, increase the room temperature, and increase the temperature difference, which can obviously improve the quality of agricultural products and increase the output. When in use, pull an iron wire from east to west on the top of the north side of the greenhouse, and glue the double-width reflective film at the central seam with transparent tape to form a reflective screen, which is hung vertically on the iron wire, and the lower part hangs on the ground. In order to save material, old plastic film can be used for the bottom contacting part, and the old film is used as the lining tape at both ends, and then the bamboo stick is inserted into the ground surface fixing lining tape.
2. New solar luminous signs
The new solar luminous sign is a special lane sign given by the Solar Energy Industry Alliance for passenger cars. The purpose is to avoid the limited visibility at night, the traffic control department specially developed and designed this kind of special sign facility. The text and the outer frame of the sign are inlaid with light-emitting devices, and the flashing prompt function is turned on at night according to the light induction. The light is eye-catching and the penetrating power is strong. The logo uses solar power, stores electricity during the day, and emits light at night, which meets the requirements of energy conservation and environmental protection, and has a large-scale promotion value.
