Gerflor strictly confidential 1
Industrial perspective
on slip resistance solutions
Olivier CEYSSON
R&D and Innovation Director – GERFLOR Group
GERFLOR - STRICTLY CONFIDENCIAL
GERFLOR AT ONE GLANCE
GERFLOR - STRICTLY CONFIDENCIAL
Focus
Resilient flooring
& Wall covering
13 Plants
3 300 Employees
40 Nationalities
Innovative, designed
and eco-responsible
solutions
65% International
100 Countries
Sales 2015
791 M€
GERFLOR - STRICTLY CONFIDENCIAL
A group built on innovative brands and companies
GERFLOR HERITAGE
BatiflexThe first flooring solution dedicated to
aircraft since 1948
MipolamThe first homogeneous
flooring since 1937
Gerland SolsInvention of self adhesive tiles in 1985
TaraflexSupplier to the Olympic
games since 1976
Connor SportsThe first wood sports
flooring since 1872
GERFLOR - STRICTLY CONFIDENCIAL
MULTISPÉCIALISTE DES SOLSSpecific Solutions for every market need
10MARKETS
Retail Housing Residential Industry
Sport Education Hospitality Offices Transport
THE FLOORING MULTI-SPECIALIST
Healthcare
-> SLIP RESISTANCE requested
GERFLOR - STRICTLY CONFIDENCIAL
COMPLETE SOLUTIONS
Various flooring technologies
ESD
Safeties
Cushion Vinyl
Synthetic
Sports Flooring
Hardwood
Sports Flooring
Technical & Sports
Tiles (PVC / Polypropylene)
Decorative
tiles LVT
MultilayeredHomogeneous
Carpet tiles
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FLOORING Market
30 %
24 %18 %
15 %10 %
4 % Ceramic
Carpet
Laminate
Vinyl
Wood
Others
Total EU Market = 1900 M Sqm ( = 15% ww market)
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VINYL FLOORING Market
Total EU Market = 240 M Sqm ( = 22% ww market)
40 %
30 %
16 %
10 %
4 %
CV
LVT
Heterogeneous
Homogeneous
Others
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Vinyl Flooring : Products & Processes
HOMOGENEOUSLVTCV
&
HETEROGENEOUS
● Compounding + Calandering
● Extrusion / Pressing
● Varnishing
● Compounding + Calandering
● Printing
● Laminating
● Varnishing
● Cutting / Profiling
● Coating
● Printing
● Varnishing
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SAFETY
FACTS
9 Million : Slip & fall accidents hospitalize 9 Million people each year
95 Million : Work days are lost each year due to slip & fall accidents
20.000 USD : The average worker’s slip compensation claim
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PVC FLOORING
Easy to install
Design
Easy to clean
Solutions
Cost Effective
Sustainability
&
Wellness
Technical perf(Confort, Durability, Antislip,
Electroconductive, …)
VINYL FLOORING BENEFITS
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Safety Flooring
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Construction
TARASAFE STANDARD
Coated Wear layer with anti-slip particules
throughout the whole thickness
Fibre Glass Grid
Compact backing
GERFLOR - STRICTLY CONFIDENCIAL
Construction
TARASAFE GEO/ULTRA
Homogeneous layer with
anti-slip particules
Fibre Glass Grid
Compact backing
Sparclean® treatment
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SlipSafe Project
Option 1 : Formulation modifications
The target of this study was to increase the slip resistance of the floor
surface by adding an masterbatch during the compounding process
Floor type: Exemple 1 :
Homogeneous PVC floor, 2mm
Filler content: 90 phr
Plasticizer: 17 phr
Additive:
Slipsafe Masterbach
Various formulations
Different quantity of masterbatch
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SlipSafe Project
For the trials, the following process steps were done in the pilot
line of Gerflor R&D department:
1 - Mixing of standard pellets with different quantity of masterbatch
2 – Extrusion of mixed pellets with twin screw extruder, in order to
achieve a homogeneous „new“ pellet
3 – Extrusion to produce thin chips for scattering process
4 – Pressing of chips on steel belt press
5 – Sanding of sheet surface to achieve a thickness of 2 mm
6 – Embossing of surface with static press
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Trials
Chips production Removing sheet from press
Chips inside scattering device
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Trials
After the pressing, the thickness
was measured.
The samples were sanded to 2,0
mm thickness
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Trials
Results of the trials:
Samples with 10% masterbatch were
too brittle at all. At room temperature,
samples couldn‘t be handled or rolled.
Samples with 5% masterbatch were
better, but still brittle.
Differents MB were tested.
Conclusion of these trial series:
Max. MB-content of 5% and optimisation of MB, in order to reduce brittleness.
Sample after pressing
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Trials conclusion
• The torsion values are ok
• Tensile strength should be slightly higher, around 8-10 N/mm²
• Elongation is too low
• Tearing resistance is too low
-> The samples are still quite brittle.
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Perspectives
• Option 1 : Dry-blend Formulation for Homogeneous Product
-> Slip resistance improvement but Formulation and product construction need to
be optimized to reach final product performances
• Option 2 : Plastisol Formulation for Heterogeneous Product
-> Good slip resistance improvement but Formulation need to be optimized to
reach final product performances
• Option 3 : US Base coating technology
-> To be tested at industrial scale
Gerflor strictly confidential 21
THANKS