ESD Vinyl
Vinyl is the oldest effective ESD flooring material. Properly maintained, vinyl is attractive and can give a facility that hospital look of cleanliness and shine. And because the material is relatively inexpensive, vinyl can be a cost-effective ESD flooring choice. Facilities managers often favor vinyl floors because vinyl has a reputation for being both cheap and easy to clean. Vinyl manufacturers, aware of the need to contain cleaning costs, usually recommend cleaning methods that steer clear of finishes, polishes or waxes. High speed buffing, or what maintenance professionals call "burnishing," is the method most often recommended for cleaning. Using heat from the buffing equipment, burnishing melts and then reseals the floor. Buyers should be aware that burnishing does not coat the floor, so does not provide a new surface layer, the way a wax does. As with any vinyl, the burnished surface is soft and easily soiled or scratched. And in high traffic areas, where it may be necessary to burnish almost daily, maintenance costs are even higher. In the long run, burnishing
can actually be more expensive than using a finish. |
Figure 3: ESD carpet weaving today |
ESD Epoxy
Epoxy has matured to become a viable, high quality ESD flooring option. Today's epoxies are easy to install and maintain, durable, and also attractive. Along with the solid-colored coatings typically used in parking garages and aircraft hangars, the new breeds of epoxies are available in patterns as well as in multiple colors and textures. The use of multiple layers of conductive materials as part of the overall thickness of a coating provides redundant paths to ground so that, installed properly, epoxies are highly effective in meeting all necessary ESD standards. In facilities where constant heavy loads and high traffic are the norm, epoxies are almost the only practical flooring material. Take the case of EMC Corporation in Franklin, MA. In order to identify the best looking, most durable product for their facility, EMC performed a robotic durability test, called "Project Einstein," on the various flooring materials and products. As part of the test, EMC rolled their 5000 pound computers throughout the manufacturing area, destroying then repairing the different vinyl and rubber materials. The only flooring material the computers didn't destroy was epoxy. However, the upside of epoxy is also its downside: the floor is ruggedly hard. In order to meet their ergonomic requirements, EMC installed ESD
carpet tiles in various areas over their quartz floor. In addition to ergonomic considerations, facilities managers should understand that the color of an epoxy floor is not one hundred percent stable. Over time, exposed to ultraviolet rays, epoxy has been known to yellow. Also, because of the rigidity and shiny sleekness of its surface, epoxy can present noise and slipperiness issues, and repairs can be difficult. Another, perhaps larger problem with epoxy is that you don't know for sure what you have or what it will look like until after the floor is installed and fully cured. To avoid field errors, some epoxy suppliers install several test patches at the factory immediately after blending the material. ESD Carpet
At one time, carpet manufacturers believed that, to solve ESD problems, they had only to find a way to prevent people from getting shocks when they walked across the carpeted floor. They thought that, by preventing static buildup on the people who touched the components, the possibility of wiping out computer equipment would be reduced. To a certain extent, they succeeded in meeting their goal. By using antistatic additives or tufting the carpet with carbon bi-components, housed inside the core of the yarn fibers, they were able to prevent static shocks.However, because the carbon bicomponents were insulated from the exterior surface of the carpet and lacked contact points, the static dissipative properties of the carbon were rendered ineffective. The resulting products, while ideal for domestic use, did not meet the standards of the ESD industry for the manufacturing and handling of electronic components.ESD carpet has come a long way since the days of the so-called "computergrade" carpet. Today, in the tufting process, heavier denier conductive fibers can be woven into the yarn bundle, creating an almost indefinite number of contact points, thus providing a fast and reliable path to ground. Because of the heavier denier fiber, the new generation of ESD carpet can also withstand the punishment of high traffic areas. |
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