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Can anyone tell me whether they know of any research that shows whether the edge effects found with very small floor tiles (tiles that are similar in size to the heel strike area of the heel or smaller) are effective in preventing slip fall accidents? If so, what dimensions and shapes are most effective?
Conventional on-site tests methods (such as pendulum testers and the Tortus) should be used according to the methods in standards (the tiles are typically smaller than the area traversed by the slider) but I imagine that it is possible that someone has used ramp tests by now.
By the by, if anyone is doing fundamental research on test methods for measuring slip resistance perhaps you could comment on two questions that have puzzled me.
1. Can you tell me if there are any experimental test methods that eliminate edge effects from the slider? I would have thought that from basic geometry a sphere touching a plane would do this best so the slider would have to resemble a near-spherical wheel (or possibly a pair of wheels on an axle).
2. Are edge effects reduced by the use of a non-deformable material for the slider - steel instead of ruber for instance? If so does one get less variable results? Incidentally, why are we using sliders made of deformable elastic materials that change with age and wear and tear when we know that they can give imprecise results?