Researchers say new modelling approach will help make shoes safer
03/05/2018
Interaction between a shoe and a floor surface is at the core of the researchers’work and they have concluded that safety shoes need softer materials and a wider, curved heel. Shoes that distribute a person’s weight over a larger tread area can also improve traction.
“Our modelling approach can predict the impact of new tread designs on their traction performance,” said Kurt Beschorner, associate professor of bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh. “This can lead to shoe designs with better traction and to a more efficient design process.”
He and student researcher Seyed Moghaddam created the new model in the university’s human movement and balance laboratory, which focuses on solutions to prevent falling accidents. It is one of the first labs to use computational modelling to study friction between shoe and floor surfaces, the university has said.
The team will now begin working with footwear companies to design safer shoes using data from the modelling system.
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