Effect of Shoe Outsole Backing on the Coefficient of Friction

Details

• Personal Author:
  Beschorner K ; Iraqi A
• Description:
  Footwear with high coefficient of friction (COF) against lubricated floor may mitigate slipping accidents. COF varies considerably across and within shoes brands. This variation may be due to the supporting midsole that affects contact area. This study investigated the effect of this support system on the COF. Eleven pairs of shoes with outsole tread were tested on a ceramic and laminate tile with canola oil using a robotic shoe tribometer. The contact area of the tread was used as a metric to identify between outsole backings that either fully or partially brought treads into the contact region. The outsole designs were similar between shoes with good and poor support system. The shoes with the good support system had 15.5% and 26.7% higher COF on ceramic and laminate tile, respectively, compared to shoes with poor support. The suboptimal design of shoe outsole backing negatively impacts COF by reducing the contact area. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidental Falls Accidents Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Equipment Design Footwear Slips, Trips, And Falls STF Walking Surfaces
• Publisher:
  Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE)
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20063139
• Citation:
  74th Annual Meeting and Exhibition of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), May 19-23, 2019, Nashville, Tennessee. Park Ridge, IL: Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), 2019 May; :149
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  University of Pittsburgh
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20150930
• Source Full Name:
  74th Annual Meeting and Exhibition of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE), May 19-23, 2019, Nashville, Tennessee
• End Date:
  20190929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0cbacac028638ffb9cd1cd1e3d14c406f7ed047e1219d126a5318a340e78c3f649a7e94b6da837efa472c475b356c0d0b2c8f33286aa62064e821d1cc1639379
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/226257/cdc_226257_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 374.30 KB ]