Citation

Chang WR, Matz S, Chang CC. Ergonomics 2012; 55(8): 937-945.

Affiliation

Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety , 71 Frankland Road , Hopkinton , MA , 01748 , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/00140139.2012.683880

PMID

22676317

Abstract

This study investigated the stochastic distribution of the required coefficient of friction (RCOF) which is a critical element for estimating slip probability. Fifty participants walked under four walking conditions. The results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample test indicate that 76% of the RCOF data showed a difference in distribution between both feet for the same participant under each walking condition; the data from both feet were kept separate. The results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit test indicate that most of the distribution of the RCOF appears to have a good match with the normal (85.5%), log-normal (84.5%) and Weibull distributions (81.5%). However, approximately 7.75% of the cases did not have a match with any of these distributions. It is reasonable to use the normal distribution for representation of the RCOF distribution due to its simplicity and familiarity, but each foot had a different distribution from the other foot in 76% of cases. Practitioner Summary: The stochastic distribution of the required coefficient of friction (RCOF) was investigated for use in a statistical model to improve the estimate of slip probability in risk assessment. The results indicate that 85.5% of the distribution of the RCOF appears to have a good match with the normal distribution.

Language: en