Analysis on Relationship between the Performance of Running Shoe and Mesoscopic Structure of Foam Material for its Midsole

Abstract

Because foam materials are often used as the midsole part of various sports shoes because it affects the movement of runners, mechanical design method of the midsole is important for modification of their performance. Then, this study aims to develop the designing method of running shoes by analyzing mechanical behavior of their midsole. Particularly, dynamic deformation behavior of the midsole is analyzed by modeling microscopic structure of its foam materials. In this modeling, 14-sided Kelvin cell is used in finite element method for construction of membrane geometry. And then the behavior of cyclic deformation in this model of foam structure is analyzed for the investigation of foam dynamics.