Shoe tread wear occurs primarily during early stance and precedes the peak required coefficient of friction

Abstract

Worn shoes contribute to injuries caused by slip-and-fall accidents. The peak required coefficient of friction (RCOF) has been associated with tread wear rate. However, the temporal relationship between RCOF and shoe wear is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the contact region at the time of peak RCOF is consistent with the region of shoe wear. The shoe contact region at peak RCOF was imaged by frustrated total internal reflection. Images of worn tread after months of use were captured. The worn tread region was more posterior than the contact region at RCOF and did not correlate with the contact region at the time of RCOF. The contact regions observed during earlier stance (within 83 ms of heel contact) were more consistent with the worn region, suggesting that RCOF may not directly cause tread wear. These results serve to motivate future studies to identify early stance gait parameters associated with tread wear development.

Keywords:

• Slip-and-fall
• shoe wear
• tread wear
• required coefficient of friction (RCOF)
• frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by grants from the National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health [NIOSH R01 OH010940], the National Science Foundation [NSF GRFP 1747452], and the National Center for Research Resources [NCRR S10RR027102].