Tribology, friction and traction: understanding shoe-surface interaction

Abstract

Friction has been studied since the early investigations of Leonardo da Vinci, Amontons, Coulomb, and Euler, and many experimental investigations have been used to measure the friction force between contact surfaces. However, in the case of non-homogenous and different surfaces commonly experienced in sports, all of the laws of friction are violated. The area of tribology provides an opportunity to describe the relationship between footwear and the surface in engineering terms and explain how traction is generated on sports surfaces. The paper firstly examines the mechanisms used to explain dry friction, and uses these to explain the complex mechanisms associated with field footwear-surface interaction.

Keywords:

• footwear
• field testing
• foot-to-ground interaction
• friction
• traction