Abstract
The present study investigates the relationship between the roughness of beech wood and oak wood surfaces treated with oil and polyurethane coating and the slip resistance in dry, water-wet and oily conditions. Pendulum tests were conducted for slip resistance assessment, and roughness measurements were performed by stylus instrument using Ra, Rt, Rp, Rz and Rsm parameters for surface roughness evaluation. Slip potential in dry conditions was low for all finished wood floors studied. Contamination of the surface with water and oil reduced the slip resistance of finished oak and beech flooring. The strong negative correlation was found between slip resistance on dry finished flooring and roughness parameters Ra, Rz, Rt and Rp, and positive correlation between slip resistance on water-wet finished flooring and roughness parameters Ra, Rz, Rt and Rp. Moreover, the correlations between roughness parameters Ra, Rt, Rp and Rz and slip resistance were very similar, and the roughness parameters correlated more strongly with the slip resistance on dry and water-wet surfaces than with the slip resistance on oil-wet surface. Comparison of the slip potential classifications of finished wood floors based on pendulum data and based on Rz surface roughness parameters showed that in some cases the Rz parameter appeared to overestimate the slip potential of the floors in wet conditions. The results confirm previous research that roughness measurements should only be used as a guide and should not be used as the only indicator of the slip potential of wood flooring materials.
Highlights
The present study investigates the relationship between the roughness of beech wood and oak wood surfaces treated with oil and polyurethane coating and the slip resistance in dry, water-wet and oily conditions
According to the results obtained in this study, it can be concluded that contamination of the surface with water and linseed oil reduces the slip resistance of finished oak and beech flooring
The viscosity of the contaminant has a greater effect on reducing the slip resistance on flooring finished with penetrating coating materials, while on flooring finished with film-forming coating materials, the viscosity of contaminant has little effect on changing the slip resistance
Summary
Slip resistance is very complex because the likelihood of slipping is a function of many factors such as floor surface, footwear, environmental conditions, physical condition, etc. Falling mainly happens due to insufficient friction between the shoe sole and the floor, and the coefficient of friction (COF) is commonly accepted as an indicator of floor surface slipperiness level. The higher the COF is, the higher the degree of anti-slippery (slip resistance effect) will be (Chen et al, 2015). Factors affecting the results of friction measurement are floor materials, floor roughness, liquid/solid contaminants on floor, the groove design of shoes and the friction measurement device used (Liu et al, 2010; Chen et al, 2015).
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