What Makes a Floor Slippery? A Brief Experimental Study of Ceramic Tiles Slip Resistance Depending on Their Properties and Surface Conditions

Abstract

The safety of the use of construction facilities should be a priority in today’s busy world, where it is not difficult to get involved in an accident. Most of them, due to the pace at which we live today, are caused by slips, trips, and falls. This work presents a detailed analysis of the resistance of ceramic floors to these events, taking into account the surface properties and conditions (dry/wet), which, as presented, have a significant impact on the final slip resistance values. This study also investigates the relationship between surface roughness and anti-slip properties. According to the obtained results, it can be concluded that the surface roughness is not the main determinant of slip resistance, and the final value of it is influenced by many components that should be considered together and not be neglected when designing the surface finish. Furthermore, based on experimental measurements, it can be noted that the highest slip resistance in both wet and dry conditions showed the unglazed tiles with lapatto finish and the glazed tiles without any extra finish.

Visual and Physical Degradation of the Black and White Mosaic of a Roman Domus under Palazzo Valentini in Rome: A Preliminary Study

“…A small quantity of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) was also revealed, the occurrence of which can be ascribed to the mosaic mortar, since the tile surfaces and bodies look intact, although moved along from their inclusion points in the mosaic pavement. On the basis of such observation, it can be supposed that the tiles have slipped from their location because of pressure exerted by the degradation product (of a chemical or biological nature), which caused a physical degradation with structural failure of the mortar [13,14].…”

Safety of Floor Surfaces in Public Service Buildings: Portable Slip Testers

“…Research into the reduction of slip risk remains essential to improve slip safety. Research to improve this parameter is carried out in the field of surface and footwear design and the development of measurement methods that consider the effect of wear on the surface [26][27][28]. This study employs the K-means method to categorize floor surfaces utilized within Public Service Buildings (PSB), specifically in pedestrian zones characterized by high foot traffic.…”