Tactile Tile Nonslip

A variety of devices are available can be used to measure the slip resistance of a tactile surface. The most common device is the James machine which was developed in the early 1940s and was the testing device specified by the Underwriters Laboratory (UL). Since that time 0.5 has become the commonly-accepted threshold for classifying slip resistance in products. Furthermore, the James machine is the recognized test method and the 0.5 value (when measured by this tester) is the recognized minimum criterion for slip-resistant walking surfaces in courts of law in the United States.
Many individuals have expressed concerns regarding tactile tile nonslip surfaces. Armor-Tile produces a slip resistance far above the minimum criteria of 0.5. It has been tested to produce slip resistance factors exceeding 0.9 in both wet and dry conditions. There two reasons for such high factors.

One reason is the micro texture that exists on the top of each dome and in the field texture between the domes. The micro texture also has a very high wear resistance verified by the existing texture on a BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) platform tiles that exposed nearly 7 million passengers to the product with little wear over 5 years.

The second reason is the inclusion of aluminum oxide throughout the matrix of the tiles. These element increases slip resistance and provides extreme wear resistance.

So the next time you need a tactile tile nonslip surface, think Armor-Tile.

By Ron O’Neill
Engineered Plastics Inc.
www.armor-Tile .com

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