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

Ref document6

FLOORING Market

30 %

24 %18 %

15 %10 %

4 % Ceramic

Carpet

Laminate

Vinyl

Wood

Others

Total EU Market = 1900 M Sqm ( = 15% ww market)

Ref document7

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

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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

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THANKS