Influence of Footwear on In-Shoe Loading for Different Soil Densities

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of using a soil laboratory designed for testing of industrial equipment, for the biomechanical assessment of sports movements and footwear. This was achieved by the investigation of the influence of three different footwear types on in-shoe pressures to assess cushioning provided by the footwear for two surface conditions of differing density. Six subjects each performed running trials on the two surfaces in three pairs of footwear: molded boots, boots with studs and trainers. In-shoe pressure data were collected for six running steps for each shoe-surface condition, with peak heel force values used to quantify cushioning. Within each surface condition, similar peak heel force values were obtained for each of the footwear conditions. The comparison of surfaces revealed significantly higher heel impact forces when running on the higher density surface, suggesting a lower cushioning effect of this surface condition. This study demonstrates the potential of the described novel methodology to investigate footwear-surface combinations for controlled natural soil conditions. Combining these data with simultaneously measured pressures at different soil depths will allow the development of surface designs to best cope with the forces applied by the human.