Friction measurements on ramps using the Brungraber Mark II slipmeter

It is a common belief that a person is more likely to slip when walking on an inclined surface than when walking on a level surface. Reports of friction measurements were common on horizontal surfaces but were rare on inclined surfaces. A slip measurement device reports different readings on the same surface with different inclined angles if the effect of gravity comes into play. In this study, friction measurements were conducted on the same surface with 0°, 10° and 20° inclined angles under different footwear materials, floors, and surface conditions, using a Brungraber Mark II slipmeter. Statistically significant results were obtained for the measurement results under the inclined angle, footwear material, floor, and surface conditions. A regression model was established to describe the coefficients of friction on ramp floors under footwear material/floor/surface conditions. This model is significant at p < 0.0001 with an R² of 0.87. The cosine function of ramp angle, as suggested in the regression model, was recommended to be used as a correcting factor for friction measurement results using the Brungraber Mark II on ramps to report the corrected friction coefficient of the surfaces.     

The Surface Roughness of a Rubber Soling Material Determines the Coefficient of Friction on Water-Lubricated Surfaces

For more than a decade, evidence has been accumulating that points to the fact that the microscopic roughness of the footwear soling surface is a major determinant of slip-resistance on lubricated surfaces, but conclusive experimental proof has been lacking. This article describes an experiment in which five pairs of shoes were soled with the same rubber compound. Four of the pairs were abraded by different grades of grit to produce a range of roughness values. The coefficient of friction (CoF) of the five solings was then measured repeatedly by the walking traction method on wet surfaces including glazed wall tiles, vinyl asbestos coated with the wax floor polish, and both sides of a sheet of float glass. The Kruskal-Wallis statistical test proved beyond doubt that the soling roughness is a major factor in determining the CoF of this rubber soling material; p < 10⁻⁵. Nearly all of the grip was due to surface roughness of the soling material on these atypically smooth floors, although the surface roughness of the floors also had a significant effect on CoF; p < 0.003. Float glass is shown to be a promising reference floor material for the measurement of CoF of footwear; there was no statistical difference between results for the two sides of the glass sheet. Float glass could be used in the development of a standard CoF test method because new sheets of glass from the same manufacturer are identical and extremely smooth. The specification of CoF values for solings/floors combinations in lubricated conditions is of little value unless associated with roughness measurements and knowledge of how wear will affect the surface roughness of the sole. This article reports the first evidence that any specification of flooring by measuring CoF based on dry surfaces could lead to an increase in the number of injuries caused by slipping on the wet surfaces. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd     

Friction measurements on “anti-slip” floors under shoe sole,contamination, and inclination conditions

Friction measurements were conducted to study the effects of shoe sole, floor, contamination, and inclined angle of the floor surface on friction coefficient. The shoe sole samples included composite rubber outsole samples with and without V-shaped tread design. Unglazed ceramic tiles of both flat and tiles with molded profile design were tested. The contamination conditions included dry, wet, and glycerol-contaminated conditions. The inclined angles included 0°, 5°, and 10°. A Brungraber Mark II slipmeter was used. The results showed that all the four factors affected friction coefficient significantly (p < 0.0001). Flat rubber soles had higher friction coefficients than the soling samples with V-shaped tread design on all tested floors and inclined angles under wet conditions. Flat soles, however, had extremely low friction when tested on flat floors under glycerol-contaminated conditions. The floors with molded grooves perpendicular to friction measurement direction had the highest friction coefficients than all other floor conditions under both the wet and glycerol-contaminated conditions except the wet/flat sole/10° condition. A regression model with a cosine function was established to describe the relationship between friction coefficient and inclined angle of the floor under the experimental conditions. This model is statistically significant at p < 0.0001 with an R² of 0.97.     

Subjective assessments of floor slipperiness before and after walk under two lighting conditions

A gait experiment was performed. The participants were tested under shoes, floors, surface and lighting conditions. They gave floor slipperiness ratings before and after a gait trial. The perceived sense of slip (PSOS) was collected. It was found that the perceived floor slipperiness (PFS) before walking was affected significantly by the lighting, floor and surface conditions. Relative low PFS values were recorded under wet and detergent-contaminated conditions in the normal daylight condition as compared with those in the dimmed condition. The PFS after the gait was significantly affected by the floor and surface conditions. The PSOS was highly correlated with the PFS after trial. The regression analyses results indicated that both the coefficient of friction (COF) of the floor and lighting were primary predictors of the PFS before a gait. The COF and walking speed were the primary predictors of the PFS after a gait.     

Systematic patterns and random fluctuations in time series of coefficients of friction measured on floor surfaces

Coefficients of friction were measured periodically over a period of 30 months on the surfaces of five types of floor coverings in a new sport complex. The resulting time series were analysed with regard to both systematic and random short- and long-term effects of wear and maintenance. For detailed information about the involved wear mechanisms, two test sites characterized by different levels of pedestrian traffic were investigated for each floor covering. The systematic trends observed in time series of mean coefficients of friction were consistent with measured surface roughness parameters and could be divided into three categories, depending on the predominant wear mechanisms: smoothing of rough surfaces was accompanied by average monthly reductions of 0.007–0.014 in the coefficients of friction, measured under wet conditions, while mechanical polishing combined with coating by care products caused average changes between 0.002 and 0.006 per month. Progressive scratching and roughening of an initially smooth floor surface continuously increased the measured coefficients of friction by 0.003 per month. The cumulative long-term effects of surface wear exceeded the random variations in time series of mean coefficients of friction, characterized by a repeatability standard deviation of 0.006 and a reproducibility standard deviation of 0.020, respectively. For one specific floor covering, seasonal variations with an amplitude of 0.015 were observed in the time series of measured coefficients of friction.     

Effect of Sweating on Insulation of Footwear

The study aimed to find out the influence of sweating on footwear insulation with a thermal foot model. Simultaneously, the influence of applied weight (35 kg), sock, and steel toe cap were studied. Water to 3 sweat glands was supplied with a pump at the rate of 10 g/hr in total. Four models of boots with steel toe caps were tested. The same models were manufactured also without steel toe. Sweating reduced footwear insulation 19–25% (30–37% in toes). During static conditions, only a minimal amount of sweat evaporated from boots. Weight affected sole insulation: Reduction depended on compressibility of sole material. The influence of steel toe varied with insulation. The method of thermal foot model appears to be a practical tool for footwear evaluation.     

Slip Resistance of Industrial Floor Surfaces: Development of an Elastomer Suited to In-Situ Measurement

Slips contribute to 12% of occupational accidents. A slip resistant floor is a mean to prevent slipping accidents occurring in workshops. Floor slip resistance is often evaluated by measuring a friction index, proportional to the force opposing slipping of a reference elastomer on the floor surface under test. When implementing a portable appliance, slip resistance measurements carried out on lubricated floors were not stabilized. The authors advanced the hypothesis of oil impregnating the elastomer. A new elastomer suited to in-situ measurement has been developed to achieve stable measuring conditions. This study highlights the fact that the nature and characteristics of a reference elastomer must be specified when slip resistance measurements are carried out.     

Performance of slippery and slip-resistant footwear in different wintry weather conditions measured in situ

In Finland about 70,000 people are annually injured in pedestrian and bicycle falling accidents occurred at the street, walkways and courtyards. Around 2/3 of these occur when the walking surface is covered by ice or snow. In general, slipping is caused by both environmental and human factors. The primary environmental factor behind slipping accidents is slip resistance characteristics of underfoot surface. Especially in winter slipping accidents are mainly due to inadequate friction between footwear and underfoot surfaces. Portable devices measuring friction, i.e. slipmeters, may be used for assessing slipperiness on different walking surfaces in situ. During winter seasons 2003 and 2004 a study was performed to evaluate the usability of portable slip simulator for measuring slipperiness of walkways on varying weather conditions and to assess slip resistance of different footwear. The Portable Slip Simulator proved to be applicable for measuring in situ the slipperiness of wintry walking surfaces and evaluating quality of winter maintenance. Significant differences in traction between footwear were found especially in normal Finnish climate winter days when friction provided by slip-resistant footwear was multifold compared to a poorer one. On very slippery icy surfaces no footwear provided enough grip and, therefore, in such conditions anti-slip devices should be used.     

Preferred surface microscopic geometric features on floors as potential interventions for slip and fall accidents on liquid contaminated surfaces

PROBLEM: Surface roughness affects friction, so selection of floor surfaces with certain roughness characteristics could potentially reduce slip and fall accidents. This article summarizes the preferred surface microscopic geometric features that could increase friction on surfaces covered with liquid contaminants. METHOD: Three types of surface features, represented by the average of the maximum height above the mean line in each cut-off length (R(pm)), the arithmetical average of surface slope (Delta(a)), and the kernel roughness depth (R(k)), are identified as preferred surface microscopic geometric features for a higher friction. The proper settings on the profilometers (instruments used to measure surface roughness) for optimizing these surface parameters are specified. The friction mechanisms involved reveal why these features are more desirable. RESULTS: Although surface roughness is important in determining slipperiness, there is still insufficient information to establish a safety criterion based on roughness; however, the method presented in this paper can readily provide a relative comparison. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: The summary presented will help safety professionals properly select new floor surfaces or assess existing floors to reduce slip and fall accidents.     

Development of an objective determination of a slip with a portable inclineable articulated strut slip tester (PIAST)

A portable inclineable articulated strut slip tester (PIAST) is a slipmeter that is widely used in the USA to measure coefficient of friction (COF) at the shoe sole and floor interface. A determination of a slip at the measurement interface, which is currently judged subjectively by operators, plays a crucial role in deciding the outcomes of a PIAST measurement. The goal of this study was to develop an objective determination of a slip based on the movement of the weight used by the slipmeter. The displacement of the weight and the time duration of consecutive strikes in a measurement were used to derive the objective slip criterion. Various footwear materials, floor materials and surface conditions were used to cover a wide range of COF values. The results of the regression analysis indicated that the objective COF predicted by the method developed in the current study was significant (R² = 0.997, β = 0.991, p < 0.001) in predicting the subjective COF determined by the operator.     

Commentary: legal minimum tread depth for passenger car tires in the U.S.A.--a survey

Available tire traction is a significant highway safety issue, particularly on wet roads. Tire-roadway friction on dry, clean roads is essentially independent of tread depth, and depends primarily on roadway surface texture. However, tire-wet-roadway friction, both for longitudinal braking and lateral cornering forces, depends on several variables, most importantly on water depth, speed and tire tread depth, and the roadway surface texture. The car owner-operator has control over speed and tire condition, but not on water depth or road surface texture. Minimum tire tread depth is legislated throughout most of the United States and Europe. Speed reduction for wet road conditions is not.A survey of state requirements for legal minimum tread depth for passenger vehicle tires in the United States is presented. Most states require a minimum of 2/32 of an inch (approximately 1.6 mm) of tread, but two require less, some have no requirements, and some defer to the federal criterion for commercial vehicle safety inspections. The requirement of 2/32 of an inch is consistent with the height of the tread-wear bars built in to passenger car tires sold in the United States, but the rationale for that requirement, or other existing requirements, is not clear. Recent research indicates that a minimum tread depth of 2/32 of an inch does not prevent significant loss of friction at highway speeds, even for minimally wet roadways. The research suggests that tires with less than 4/32 of an inch tread depth may lose approximately 50 percent of available friction in those circumstances, even before hydroplaning occurs. It is concluded that the present requirements for minimum passenger car tire tread depth are not based upon rational safety considerations, and that an increase in the minimum tread depth requirements would have a beneficial effect on highway safety.     

几种木质地板材料差热特性分析

为正确认识木质地板材料的燃烧特性,应用差热分析方法比较几种木质地板材料的燃烧性能。采用CRY-1型差热分析仪对8种木质地板与普通松木试样依据标准升温曲线进行差热试验,研究试样受热期间的峰特征。试验结果表明:不同品牌的复合地板在燃烧性能上基本相同,而实木地板由于所选基材材种不同,其热特征有很大的区别。总体上,复合地板火灾危险性高于实木地板。所选8种木质地板与普通松木的火灾危险性大小为试样③﹥试样⑦﹥试样⑥﹥试样②﹥普通松木﹥试样⑧﹥试样⑤﹥试样④﹥试样①。     

高层公寓式住宅建筑电梯协同楼梯疏散策略研究

为探索高层建筑利用电梯协同楼梯疏散以提高疏散效率的可行性,基于现有的电梯协同楼梯疏散研究成果,运用Pathfinder构建某高层住宅建筑实例模型,研究楼层总数及电梯数量对电梯最佳停靠层的影响,提出2个电梯协同楼梯的疏散策略,并对策略进行优化分析。结果表明:电梯最佳停靠层随楼层总数的增加,呈现“平台阶变”的特征和线性增加的趋势,但随楼层总数的增加,最佳疏散层在“平台阶变”后会更加远离顶层;策略1（顶层优先策略）下因存在最佳分离楼层使得该策略下的总疏散时间最短,策略2（分段顶层优先策略）可有效提高电梯利用率,通过对策略2下的人员使用电梯比例进行控制,可进一步提高疏散效率,该优化策略可将总疏散时间从仅楼梯无电梯疏散的804 s缩短到580 s,使疏散效率提升27.9%。     

Effects of load carriage and work boots on lower limb kinematics of industrial workers

Load and footwear condition are two crucial elements varying the kinematic responses during walking, which probably lead to chronic injury. Fifteen healthy male individuals with no obvious gait abnormalities participated in this study. Apart from a no-load condition, four external load conditions with two load levels were investigated. Work boots were compared with running shoes to determine footwear effects. Significant impacts were found for lower limb range of motion at certain joints when carrying loads. A greater hip and ankle flexion–extension while wearing the work boots indicated that participants needed to lift the leg higher to complete toe clearance off the walking surface. Work boots also increased the vertical excursion of the center of body mass, which may impact body balance and induce falling. No significant influencing pattern of carrying modes was found, which was probably due to the light load and relatively stable mode of shoulder carrying.     

Experimental study on an ultra high-rise building evacuation in China

With the development of modern cities, more and more ultra high-rise buildings have been built. Emergency evacuation of such buildings becomes one of the major concerns for building designers, building occupants and governments, especially after the disaster of 9/11. In this study we designed three experiments to investigate the process of ultra high-rise building evacuation. The experiments were performed in Shanghai World Financial Center, which is about 470 m tall. In the first experiment, the evacuation of a single pedestrian from the top floor to the first floor was performed. Movement characteristics such as mean speed and the time needed for evacuation were analyzed. In the second experiment, the mass evacuation process was captured by video cameras and the data were extracted out manually. The evacuees were distributed initially on floors 12–17, and were asked to evacuate through a staircase onto the refuge floor. On the refuge floor, i.e. the 6th floor, the evacuees were required to transit into another staircase to keep moving down to the ground floor. The characteristic space–time curves for each evacuee were extracted and analyzed. Parameters such as the mean speed and the evacuation time, as well as the characteristic of the transit process from one staircase to another were investigated. We at last mimicked and discussed the process of lift evacuation for an ultra high-rise building in the 3rd experiment. Evacuees located on the 41st and 65th floor were asked to move downward by stairs until they came to the refuge floors, where they would evacuate to the ground floor by lifts. The time characteristic of the mixed evacuation strategy was discussed. The basic data obtained from the experiments are useful for building designers and can be used to validate and refine ultra high-rise building evacuation models.     

火灾情况下不同楼层对大学生疏散心理和行为反应影响的研究

火灾情况下不同楼层对大学生疏散心理和行为反应有重要影响.选择住宿的高职学生1141人作被试,采用统计分析法对不同楼层的学生进行问卷后统计分析结果显示:在火灾情景下,学生居住的楼层越高,从众心理越强,从众心理有随着楼层的增高而增强的趋势;楼层较高的学生比楼层较低的学生适应性行为多,会采取灭火行为,能做到就近逃生等;楼层最低的学生比楼层最高的学生能很快的表现出帮助他人脱离火场的能力和行为,但是楼层最高的学生比楼层居中的学生相互救助的意识强;楼层居中的学生比楼层较高的学生存在较强的惊慌心理.     

Autonomous emergency braking systems adapted to snowy road conditions improve drivers' perceived safety and trust

Objective: This study investigated drivers' evaluation of a conventional autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system on high and reduced tire–road friction and compared these results to those of an AEB system adaptive to the reduced tire–road friction by earlier braking. Current automated systems such as the AEB do not adapt the vehicle control strategy to the road friction; for example, on snowy roads. Because winter precipitation is associated with a 19% increase in traffic crashes and a 13% increase in injuries compared to dry conditions, the potential of conventional AEB to prevent collisions could be significantly improved by including friction in the control algorithm. Whereas adaption is not legally required for a conventional AEB system, higher automated functions will have to adapt to the current tire–road friction because human drivers will not be required to monitor the driving environment at all times. For automated driving functions to be used, high levels of perceived safety and trust of occupants have to be reached with new systems. The application case of an AEB is used to investigate drivers' evaluation depending on the road condition in order to gain knowledge for the design of future driving functions.

Methods: In a driving simulator, the conventional, nonadaptive AEB was evaluated on dry roads with high friction (μ = 1) and on snowy roads with reduced friction (μ = 0.3). In addition, an AEB system adapted to road friction was designed for this study and compared with the conventional AEB on snowy roads with reduced friction. Ninety-six drivers (48 males, 48 females) assigned to 5 age groups (20–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59, and 60–75 years) drove with AEB in the simulator. The drivers observed and evaluated the AEB's braking actions in response to an imminent rear-end collision at an intersection.

Results: The results show that drivers' safety and trust in the conventional AEB were significantly lower on snowy roads, and the nonadaptive autonomous braking strategy was considered less appropriate on snowy roads compared to dry roads. As expected, the adaptive AEB braking strategy was considered more appropriate for snowy roads than the nonadaptive strategy. In conditions of reduced friction, drivers' subjective safety and trust were significantly improved when driving with the adaptive AEB compared to the conventional AEB. Women felt less safe than men when AEB was braking. Differences between age groups were not of statistical significance.

Conclusions: Drivers notice the adaptation of the autonomous braking strategy on snowy roads with reduced friction. On snowy roads, they feel safer and trust the adaptive system more than the nonadaptive automation.     

Slip initiation in alternative and slip-resistant footwear

Slips occur as a result of failure of normal locomotion. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of alternative footwear (Crocs?, flip-flops) and an industry standard low-top slip-resistant shoe (SRS) under multiple gait trials (normal dry, unexpected slip, alert slip and expected slip) on lower extremity joint kinematics, kinetics and muscle activity. Eighteen healthy male participants (age: 22.28?±?2.2 years; height: 177.66?±?6.9?cm; mass: 79.27?±?7.6?kg) completed the study. Kinematic, kinetic and muscle activity variables were analyzed using a 3(footwear)?×?4(gait trials) repeated-measures analysis of variance at p?=?0.05. Greater plantar flexion angles, lower ground reaction forces and greater muscle activity were seen on slip trials with the alternative footwear. During slip events, SRS closely resembled normal dry biomechanics, suggesting it to be a safer footwear choice compared with alternative footwear.     

Roughness and slipperiness of floor surface: Tactile sensation and perception

The slipperiness of floor is one of the risk factors affecting the occurrence of slipping and falling. The purpose of the study was to compare the roughness and slipperiness of five floor surfaces based on tactual sensations from different body segments for human subjects. The perceived roughness and perceived floor slipperiness of five floors based on tactual sensation from 20 male and 20 female subjects were collected and compared. The female subjects tended to give higher subjective ratings on both perceived roughness and slipperiness than their male counterpart. Both index fingertip and palm were more sensitive than foot in the sensation of floor roughness. The differences among fingertip, palm, and foot in the perceived floor slipperiness were not statistically different. The regression analysis results indicated that floor roughness parameter R_a is a better predictor in predicting both the perceived floor roughness and perceived floor slipperiness than the COF of the floor.     

Heel contact dynamics during slip events on level and inclined surfaces

This study describes heel contact dynamics during slip events, information that must be known to develop biomechanically relevant shoe-floor coefficient of friction measurement systems. Sixteen subjects walked on a level, 5 and 10° ramp with two possible contaminants (dry, oil). Foot motion was recorded at 350 Hz and compared among no-slip, slip-recovery and slip-fall events. For all trials, the foot rotated to foot-flat, even during slip and fall trials. Heel sliding patterns recorded upon and shortly after heel contact were similar for all conditions. Slip distances, sliding velocities and heel acceleration profiles varied across trials. During the fall trials, the slipping motion of the foot was found to decelerate approximately 200 to 300 ms into stance before accelerating again, eventually leading to the fall. This deceleration was believed to be an attempt by the subject to recover from the slip. Recovery attempts on inclined surfaces were less successful than on level floors. In general, the slip distance and peak forward sliding velocity associated with fall trials were greater than or equal to 10 cm and 0.8 m/s, respectively. These complex motions at the shoe-floor interface during slipping should be taken into account for improving slip resistance measurement systems.