Feb 09, 2023

ASTM International’s amusement rides and devices and committee (F24) has approved a new standard that will be used to collect gravitational force data for water slides. The new standard (soon to be published as F3493) focuses on using humans fitted with measuring instruments to generate the G-force data.

“The new standard will be useful to designers as a tool for collecting and measuring accelerations on a water slide to validate their calculations as they pertain to g-forces,” says ASTM member Andreas Tanzer. “This can also be globally used by inspectors and third party inspection agencies that validate rides and use data collected to ensure it meets existing water slide standards that have acceleration limits.”

Tanzer notes that the new standard will ensure consistent measurement of forces on a rider and removes interpretation of results based on different methods that are inconsistent with each other. The standard will measure forces that are actually felt by a rider, which directly relate to the maximum allowable forces prescribed in ASTM’s standard on classification, design, manufacture, construction, and operation of water slide systems (F2376).
 
All interested parties are invited to join in the future development of F3493.

“We are always looking for individuals who take an interest in the measurements of G-forces,” says Tanzer, director of research, design and standards, ProSlide Technology Inc. “We are also looking for anyone willing to help in the expansion of this standard to possibly include bumper boats, zip lines, or any other areas in which forces need to be known to be felt on a person.”

In addition, Tanzer says that the task group that developed the standard will continue to gather real-time data used to update acceleration requirements and ensure values for the forces reflect real time current data within F2376. 

ASTM welcomes participation in the development of its standards. Become a member at JOIN ASTM.