Wear pattern of shoes

• Main Author: Ong, Kuei Hsien
• Other Authors: Yeo Joon Hock
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/61351
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

As the sole of shoe wears gradually, the gait pattern is affected and this may lead to compromising safety and possibly health of the user. The extent of shoe wear that will have a significant effect to the user is not clear though. This final year project is focused on examination of shoe wear patterns and its correlation to gait patterns. The scope of work included developing a non-invasive quantitative method to measure shoe wear by comparing thickness of outsoles, conducting gait analysis with the shoe wear results and compare the difference in gait analysis between new functioning shoes and worn-out shoes. The 14 volunteers in this study were wearing ASICS Lyteracer TS and ASICS Gel Kanbarra 4 SP (Green) and Gel 105 SP (Blue) shoes. Results revealed an unconventional finding where the mid-soles of shoes contained significant shoe wear in 87.5% of the sample population. It was reasoned that to maintain high running speed, runners had to run on the bores of their feet, where the mid-soles would make most contact. Severe extent of shoe wear was also found to adversely affect gait patterns performance thereafter. Reduced knee flexion of 44.2% could affect the stability of locomotion. Sample also showed that an increased pronation activity of 319%, 34% and 224.5% at the high arch, neutral arch and low arch types respectively could be creating additional strains, making it an uncomfortable running experience. Reduced dorsiflexion activity was believed to incur more shoe wear at the anterior of feet. Future works should consider multi-variance ANOVA study involving more participants. This would eliminate insignificant factors among the multitude of factors that were influencing the shoe wear pattern. The objective is to better understand the extent of shoe wear in terms of patterns and depth that would prematurely terminate the useful-life of a pair of shoes. In order to have more credible results, sample size had to be increased. High-speed camera and motion tracking software will be required for effective data processing and accuracy of gait analysis.