Problems of Tribologic Characterization of Shoe – Walking Surface Friction Pairs

Abstract

Tribological characteristics of shoe sole in a friction pair with the walking surface are important parameters due to the safety of shoe exploitation and time of its durability. The footwear industry methods of analysing friction coefficient are obsolete, and, on the other hand, modern tribological equipment that allows credible results requires long data processing. The authors suggest using a previously developed formula that binds tribological characteristics with energetic condition of the walking surface. By doing so, this formula evaluates the force of friction and wear of shoe – walking surface pair. It may shorten the time needed to evaluate the basic parameters of shoe exploitation in variable conditions of their utilization and, thus, contribute to the formulation of material resolutions aiming to improve the quality of shoe usage while reducing the costs of performing required examinations.