Textured anti-slip products can be divided into two categories: matting for dry areas and matting for wet areas. In dry areas, anti-slip matting often overlaps with anti-fatigue matting. This sort of matting is usually seen in commercial and industrial settings, either in stationary work areas or along commonly used walkways. These mats use the same textured surface to provide comfort and anti-slip characteristics. Since the anti-slip texturing on dry area matting is often less complex than on mats for wet areas, the former are usually extruded rather than molded. Therefore, these mats are usually relatively cost effective, even for larger areas. For wet areas, non-slip matting usually has more extreme surface texturing, as water tends to decrease the natural grip (coefficient of friction) of rubber. In places like pools and locker room showers, where some amount of water is always present, anti-slip matting must also have drainage holes to prevent water from collecting on the surface of the mats. Since these products must be molded to shape, the cost of this sort of mat varies greatly with the complexity of the surface texturing. These are primarily used in transition areas due to product costs; it would be prohibitively expensive to cover an entire floor with wet area traction matting Robert Morris Email: robert@rubbercal.com |
Rubber a Great Friction Surface: Anti-Slip Matting Used to Increase Traction and Maximize Safety Robert Morris 08/31/05 Rubber-Cal Inc. Products discussed in this article: Elephant Bark Rubber Flooring, Shark Tooth Mat, Eco-Sport Tiles, Food & Beverage Mats When used as safety surfacing products, rubber matting and flooring provides anti-slip functionality in two ways. First, the naturally high coefficient of friction of most rubbers provides significant grip. Second, rubber matting and flooring products are often manufactured with surface texturing (e.g. corrugations) intended to provide both comfort and extra traction. Generally speaking, rubber flooring (which is intended to completely cover fairly large areas) relies primarily on the natural grip of rubber for slip protection, while rubber matting (designed to add grip and traction to a specific area of limited size) places more emphasis on textured surfaces. As rubber flooring is covered thoroughly in another blog, the following will concentrate on matting products for specific areas. |
Rubber-Cal Engineered Elastomers and Wear Parts |
© 1999-2008 Rubber-Cal All rights reserved. Reproduction of any of the material contained herein in any format or media without the express written permission of Rubber-Cal, Inc. is prohibited. Rubber-Cal, Inc. 3012 South Croddy Way, Santa Ana, CA 92704. Tel 800.370.9152 714.772.3000 Fax 714-772-3088 |
Blogs |
Bloggers |
Rubber a Great Friction Surface: Anti-Slip Matting Used to Increase Traction and Maximize Safety Robert Morris 08/31/05 Rubber-Cal Inc. Products discussed in this article: Elephant Bark Rubber Flooring, Shark Tooth Mat, Eco-Sport Tiles, Food & Beverage Mats When used as safety surfacing products, rubber matting and flooring provides anti-slip functionality in two ways. First, the naturally high coefficient of friction of most rubbers provides significant grip. Second, rubber matting and flooring products are often manufactured with surface texturing (e.g. corrugations) intended to provide both comfort and extra traction. Generally speaking, rubber flooring (which is intended to completely cover fairly large areas) relies primarily on the natural grip of rubber for slip protection, while rubber matting (designed to add grip and traction to a specific area of limited size) places more emphasis on textured surfaces. As rubber flooring is covered thoroughly in another blog, the following will concentrate on matting products for specific areas. |
Textured anti-slip products can be divided into two categories: matting for dry areas and matting for wet areas. In dry areas, anti-slip matting often overlaps with anti-fatigue matting. This sort of matting is usually seen in commercial and industrial settings, either in stationary work areas or along commonly used walkways. These mats use the same textured surface to provide comfort and anti-slip characteristics. Since the anti-slip texturing on dry area matting is often less complex than on mats for wet areas, the former are usually extruded rather than molded. Therefore, these mats are usually relatively cost effective, even for larger areas. For wet areas, non-slip matting usually has more extreme surface texturing, as water tends to decrease the natural grip (coefficient of friction) of rubber. In places like pools and locker room showers, where some amount of water is always present, anti-slip matting must also have drainage holes to prevent water from collecting on the surface of the mats. Since these products must be molded to shape, the cost of this sort of mat varies greatly with the complexity of the surface texturing. These are primarily used in transition areas due to product costs; it would be prohibitively expensive to cover an entire floor with wet area traction matting Robert Morris Email: robert@rubbercal.com |
Shark Tooth Mat |
Eco-Sport Tiles |
Elephant Bark Rubber Flooring |
