Tribological approach for the safety assessment of flooring/walkway surfaces: Application for the prevention of pedestrian fall incidence

Abstract

This study investigated the role of surface finishes from different material types of floors/walkways on traction properties and identified their effects on slipperiness controls under diverse walking environments to prevent fall incidence. Measurements and analyses of surface textures and traction properties of floors/walkways and interpretations were based on a tribological concept. Dynamic friction tests were conducted amongst nine indoor and outdoor floor specimens and three shoes under four different risk levels of environments. Test results showed that traction performances were considerably influenced by surface finishes of the floor specimens under the moderately (soapy) and highly (oily) risky conditions. This study also uncovered that rough floors did not mechanically ensure higher slip resistance whilst some smooth floors exhibited better slip resistance than the rougher ones. Nevertheless, outcomes from this study provided fundamental, but important information on the walkway traction properties that showed multifaceted features of tribological phenomena. Based on the overall findings, this study proposed an insight to identify the impact of floor/walkway textures on traction performances and consequently exploit sensible design concepts for the floor surfaces to prevent fall incidents.