Shock Resistance Improvement of Carbon Steel Carabiners Used at PPE

Abstract

In a continuously changing world where the human operator still plays an important role in most industrial activities, health and safety occupies a fundamental place, with the goal of maintaining workers healthy and in safe condition during their job activities. One of the means that make this goal achievable is the use of adequate personal protective equipment. The carabiners are connecting parts that link the components quickly and reversibly of personal protective equipment used against falls. Thus shackles can be divided in multiple elements, such as: the gate, which always opens inward and can be provided with or without the locking system, the second and the biggest element is the body which can have different form according to the BS EN 12275:2013 standard, the gate and the body are connected thru the rivet pin and nose. The personal fall arrest system used in areas such as construction, speleology, petroleum industry, includes metal components that must possess high mechanical properties, especially shock-resistance. In order to improve resilience, a layer of rubber paint will be deposited on the carabiner surface. The aim of this study is to analyse the influence of rubber coating on the carabiners shock resistance.