The effect of footwear outsole material on slip resistance on dry and contaminated surfaces with geometrically controlled outsoles.

Previous studies have compared slip resistance of commercially available footwear, however, often lacking the ability to isolate factors such as material and surface properties, or/and geometry. The aim of this study was to compare slip resistance of geometrically identical shoes with varying outsole materials. Three left Ecco Xpedition III shoes were constructed out of three different outsole materials: polyurethane (PU), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and vulcanised rubber (RU).

Velocity dependence of friction of confined hydrocarbons.

We present molecular dynamics friction calculations for confined hydrocarbon "polymer" solids with molecular lengths from 20 to 1400 carbon atoms. Two cases are considered: (a) polymer sliding against a hard substrate and (b) polymer sliding on polymer. We discuss the velocity dependence of the frictional shear stress for both cases.