Mechanical Footwear Traction Testing Methods

This chapter provides information on the different traditional methods of assessing the slip risk of different footwear. The first section deals with need for mechanical slip testing. Different slip testers employing rubber slider such as horizontal pull slipmeter (HPS), Portable Articulated Strut Tribometer (PAST), Portable Friction Tester (PFT), AFPV, Tortus and FSC 2000 were discussed, and their method of usage was also highlighted in the subsequent second section. The third section focuses on pendulum swing devices such as the Siegler device and British Pendulum Skid Tester. Subsequently, the footwear devices simulating the actual slip biomechanics for different footwears such as LABINRS, PSRT, Slip Resistance Tester (STM603), Step Simulator and Slip Simulator were discussed, and the process of slip testing with different footwear was also highlighted. The corresponding section of the chapter deals with the summary of all the research work done using various slip testers over time.