Our Ripple texture has the highest traction rating when wet. The texture has deeper grooves for anti-hydroplaning, a more defined texture, and a crisper, more polished look for your aquatic facility. Popularly used in underwater or low-depth applications such as splash pad surfaces, zero-depth entries, and around spray features.
Understanding Hydroplaning
Hydroplaning happens in wet areas when water accumulates and creates a layer between your feet and the ground, resulting in a loss of traction. A splash pad may be especially prone to hydroplaning due to the volumes of water frequently running over its surface.
How Does Ripple 2.0 Reduce Hydroplaning?
Ripple 2.0 works like a car’s high-performance tires. Grooves called siping allow water to run off the surface into channels, insuring that the tire is getting traction on the road.
In Life Floor’s case, the grooves in Ripple 2.0’s texture allow water to run off so that bare feet are getting traction on the surface.
Our engineers discovered that, by increasing the depth of Ripple Classic’s grooves by 75%, we could not only increase overall traction, but specifically increase protection against hydroplaning.
How Has Overall Traction Improved?
At Life Floor, we utilize the British Pendulum Test for surface slip-resistance, which we believe best reproduces real-world conditions in the laboratory testing environment. Recommended British Pendulum Numbers (BPN) for splash pad is over 40. Conventional surfaces, like concrete, have a BPN ranging between 36-42. Ripple Classic has a top BPN of 44, and Ripple 2.0 has a BPN of 58. With a BPN nearly 40% greater than concrete, without being abrasive, Ripple 2.0 is our most slip-resistant texture, ever!
The Australian Pendulum test of Dry Life Floor resulted in a PTV of 119, and Wet Life Floor resulted in a PTV of 66. This shows Life Floor is significantly more slip-resistant than broomed concrete.
