Different Flooring on Top of Force Plate

[Rachel Hybart]

Hello everyone,
I am wanting to measure forces during slips on different flooring surfaces using a bertec force plate.
Has anyone successfully mounted different flooring to the top of the force plate without affecting the readings?
Any suggestions on how to do this would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks
Rachel Hybart

[Ajit Chaudhari]

I have Bertec force plates in my lab and have done this many times and still get valid readings as assessed by a CalTester (for CoP, vector direction) and known weights. It may depend a bit on the model of force plate you have though. I have the model with bolt holes on top and I use those bolt holes for mounting the other flooring surfaces. I believe that AMTI has similar threaded mounting holes that one would use to bolt their instrumented stairs or starting blocks accessories.

Good luck!
Ajit

[Robert D. Catena]

We did a teflon floor surface mounted to kistler force plates. Like Ajit, these were mounted within the top bolt holes. I have attached the series of papers associated with this study. Here are the references.

1. Catena RD, DiDomenico A, Banks JJ, Dennerlein JT. Balance control during lateral load transfers over a slippery surface. Ergonomics. 2011;54(11):1060-71. Epub 2011/10/27. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2011.618229. PubMed PMID: 22026949.
2. Catena RD, Xu X. Lower extremity kinematics that correlate with success in lateral load transfers over a low friction surface. Ergonomics. 2015;58(9):1571-80. Epub 2015/03/18. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2015.1016122. PubMed PMID: 25782076.
3. Catena RD, Xu X. Hip and knee net joint moments that correlate with success in lateral load transfers over a low friction surface. Ergonomics. 2016;59(12):1637-45. Epub 2016/02/18. doi: 10.1080/00140139.2016.1154987. PubMed PMID: 26883302.

[Ton van den Bogert]

You can find additional information by typing the words 'force plate flooring' in the search box on the Biomch-L home page. Similar questions have been asked many times.

Biomch-L started in November 1988, so we are celebrating 35 years of collected knowledge this month!

Ton van den Bogert