Rubber shoes made of polyurethane can "snap" the ice

The sole of this winter non-slip shoe is made of rubber plastic with thousands of glass fiber filaments embedded in it. The fiber is exposed to the rubber surface like a tiny nail that can hold the ice.

The research team tested the non-slip shoes made of the composite material, allowing the experimental volunteers to wear shoes and walk on the sloping floor covered with ice. The sloping floor is part of the “Winterlab/Winter Lab” (left), an independent tiltable laboratory space that is part of the Toronto Rehabilitation Challenge Test and Evaluation Laboratory.

Canadian scientists have developed an inexpensive and effective way to embed glass fibers in elastic rubber, which can be used to make winter non-slip shoes.

Washington, March 17, 2015 - In February of this year, the blizzard set a record on the east coast of the United States and other areas. Wherever it went, the roads and sidewalks were covered with snow and ice. Recently, Canadian scientists have developed new methods for mass production of non-slip materials that help pedestrians walk safely on the ice after snow.

The material is made of glass fiber embedded in flexible elastic rubber and is expected to be used to make winter non-slip soles in the future. The researchers published the production process in the Applied Physics Letters published by the American Physical Society.

The researchers tested the material in a new closed laboratory. The floor of the laboratory was covered with ice and snow. The entire laboratory could be hoisted in the air and tilted at an angle. The experimental volunteers wore shoes made of this material and walked on the floor. The researchers used the laboratory angle. Keep leaning until the volunteer's shoes start to slip. (The lab is equipped with air cushion walls and seat belts to avoid possible dangerous falls and injuries).

“I think everybody who has fallen on the ice in winter will know what it is like,” said Reza Rizvi, a postdoctoral fellow at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. He has been researching and developing a better slip on the ice. s material. “Think about the fractures or disability caused by slipping – these are the hidden dangers of the ice-covered sidewalks and roads. Such ups and downs may change people's lives. Especially for the elderly, on the ice. Hip fractures caused by slipping can be fatal."

Tilak Dutta, the leader of the research team at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, pointed out that slipping is only one of the hazards. "The same serious harm is that many elderly people choose to stay indoors for a long time because they are afraid of falling in winter. Lack of exercise and closure will cause greater harm to health. Therefore, we need to develop a better non-slip shoes for the elderly. So that they can go out in the winter and guarantee the normal frequency of activities."

Ice is very dangerous, Rizvi says, when the temperature is close to zero degrees Celsius, the liquid water on the ice surface can easily form a thin slip layer. The high-patterned shoes can hold the solid ice through the thin layer of ice on the surface of the ice, giving the shoe a better anti-slip ability, Rizvi said. However, there are certain dangers at the bottom of the pattern, such as when the texture of the shoe is stuck in the ice. In addition, high-patterned shoes are very slippery on hard, damp marble or tile surfaces, so there is a need to develop a better material for making non-slip shoes for winter, the researchers said.

Convert rubber into sandpaper

Rizvi and his colleagues, including Hani Naguib from the University of Toronto's Intelligent Materials and Adaptive Systems Laboratory, have developed a method in which rubber can be microscopically "snapped" to the ice.

The material is made of a rubber plastic called thermoplastic polyurethane. Thousands of glass fibers are embedded in it and stretched out of the rubber like a tiny nail, making the rubber feel like a fine sandpaper.

The material looks like ordinary rubber and can also be stretched and deformed, Rizvi said. On dry surfaces, such as large floor tiles, the material functions like ordinary rubber. But on the ice, this blend of fiberglass rubber shows a significantly better anti-slip ability than ordinary rubber.

"It has been observed that the friction coefficient of this composite can be used to reduce sidewalk slip events," Rizvi said. “Using this material in our daily lives can reduce injuries caused by slipping in winter.”

Existing methods of making such materials are by pressing the glass fibers in parallel into the rubber sheet and then re-cutting the orientation such that the glass fibers expose the rubber surface as a protruding needle on the needle pad.

“It's not expensive to make this high friction coefficient blend, but the process of cutting and reorienting is not so easy to expand,” says Rizvi. The research team has found a way to automate the production process in order to produce this material on a large scale and at a low cost.

The research team emphasized that the next research work will be to further improve the wear resistance of the materials. Their tests show that the slip resistance of the material is depleted as the number of uses increases, so it is not suitable for commercial footwear, and its durability needs to be improved.

“I am very happy that our research can solve an important social problem in the winter,” Rizvi said.

“This work has the potential to have a truly meaningful impact on the large number of expensive public health problems caused by winter skidding, and will also significantly improve the quality of life of residents living in cold climates in the north,” adds Dutta.

Elevator Components

Elevator Decoration,Electric Escalator Decoration,Moving Escalator Decoration,Elevator Decoration For Sale

MAURER TECHNOLOGIES CO., LTD. , https://www.maurer-elevator.com