Changes in Appearance and Thickness of Textile Floor Coverings Causedby the Vettermann Drum and Practical Use Tests

We investigated changes in the appearance and thickness of textile floor coverings caused by the Vettermann drum and practical use tests. Eight commercial tufted textile floor coverings were used as samples. All samples were subjected to the Vettermann drum test, and five samples were subjected to a practical use test carried out in accordance with ISO 11377. Visual assessments of changes in appearance were performed by seven experts. Thickness loss of samples was determined using a WRONZ non-destructive thickness gauge. In the case of the Vettermann drum test, the coefficient of agreement between the visually assessed grade and the thickness loss estimated using a logarithmic formula was r2=0.899. We concluded that the law of Weber-Fechner could be applied to the relationship between visual assessment and thickness loss. Finally, the correlation between the thickness loss and visually assessed grade obtained after a total traffic of 100,000 people in the practical use test and that after 5,000 revolutions in the Vettermann drum test was very high (mean of correlation coefficient: rMEAN=0.950).