Chanda Arnab, Reuter Aiden, Beschorner Kurt E
Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
IISE Trans Occup Ergon Hum Factors. 2019;7(2):132-141. doi: 10.1080/24725838.2019.1637381. Epub 2019 Jul 19.
Vinyl composite tile (VCT), which is a common flooring in workplaces, is sometimes utilized as the standard floor material for mechanical slip testing experiments. Unfortunately, VCT is a sub-optimal standard test material, since it changes over time and is difficult to manufacture consistently.
This study aimed to identify a durable laboratory-grade substitute flooring that could provide traction results that are representative of footwear performance on VCT.
Eight polymer tiles (cast nylon, polyethylene, polycarbonate, acetal, Delrin, PTFE, polypropylene, and nylon) were tested and the available coefficient of friction (ACOF) was measured and compared with that of two VCT designs. First, a screening test was performed to identify good material candidates based on six shoes and two contaminants (water and oil). Two surrogate candidate tiles were then tested across 17 shoes and three contaminant conditions (water, sodium laurel sulfate, and oil).
Cast nylon tile was found to be the most generalizable VCT surrogate, exhibiting strong correlations with both VCTs for oil contamination. None of candidates were representative of the VCTs for other contaminants.
Cast nylon may be a useful alternative for VCT for standard slip testing of footwear in oily conditions.
乙烯基复合瓷砖（VCT）是工作场所常见的地板材料，有时被用作机械防滑测试实验的标准地板材料。不幸的是，VCT是一种次优的标准测试材料，因为它会随时间变化且难以始终如一地制造。
本研究旨在确定一种耐用的实验室级替代地板，其能提供代表鞋类在VCT上性能的防滑结果。
测试了八种聚合物瓷砖（铸尼龙、聚乙烯、聚碳酸酯、缩醛、聚甲醛、聚四氟乙烯、聚丙烯和尼龙），并测量了有效摩擦系数（ACOF），并与两种VCT设计的有效摩擦系数进行比较。首先，进行筛选测试，基于六种鞋子和两种污染物（水和油）确定合适的材料候选物。然后对两种替代候选瓷砖在17种鞋子和三种污染物条件（水、月桂醇硫酸酯钠和油）下进行测试。
发现铸尼龙瓷砖是最具通用性的VCT替代物，在油污条件下与两种VCT都表现出强相关性。对于其他污染物，没有候选物能代表VCT。
在油性条件下对鞋类进行标准防滑测试时，铸尼龙可能是VCT的一种有用替代品。
