Influence of the Method of Surface Treatment of Walkway Slab on the Coefficient of Friction with Rubber

Abstract

The results of tribological tests for a pair of friction walkway slab against tread tire rubber were presented. The roughness of the surface of
walkway slab was formed by two different ways: shot blasting and grinding. The coefficient of friction was measured on a laboratory tribometer
UMT-2 (CETR, USA). The surface roughness of walkway slab was measured using a 3D optical profiler S Neox (Sensofar, Spain). The field of view
was 4x4 cm. It is found that the change in surface roughness affects the friction mechanism: the role of the deformation friction mechanism in
the contact of walkway slabs with rubber increases with increasing height (Sa, Ssk, Sku) and hybrid (Sdq) roughness parameters. This leads to an
increase in tire traction when the ambient temperature drops below +4 °C or in conditions of pouring rain. Due to wear the formed roughness
may decrease, therefore another possible way to increase the grip properties was proposed. This may be the addition into the slab of polymer
fillers with high adhesive properties. The polymer fillers must retain its adhesion properties at subzero temperatures.