For the elderly and not only: non-slip shoes for the prevention of fractures
Physicists have created an ice-protected sole for shoes
An international group of physicists has developed an original version of a rubber shoe sole that remains stable and does not slip even in the strongest ice, which will help reduce the number of injuries and deaths associated with icing of sidewalks, stairs and other uneven surfaces, according to an article published in the journal Applied Physics Letters (Rizvi et al., High friction on ice provided by elastomeric fiber composites with textured surfaces, publicly available – VM).
"It seems to me that anyone who has slipped and fallen on the ice at least once can confirm that such incidents can be extremely painful and nerve-destroying events. And now imagine that you are disabled or you have fragile bones – one slippery road or sidewalk is enough for your life to change for the worse forever. An unsuccessful landing and a hip fracture can be a death sentence for an elderly person," said Reza Rizvi from the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (in a popular retelling of the results of Winter Hack: Textured Rubber that Grips Slick, Icy Surfaces – VM).
Rizvi and several other physicists and engineers from Canada experimented with various composite and plastic materials, assessing their tenacity with the assistance of several volunteers who agreed to test shoes with experimental soles on slippery ice.
As scientists explain, ice becomes especially slippery at near-zero air temperatures due to the fact that a thin film of water forms on its surface, on which the smooth rubber sole of the shoe easily slides. Boots and boots with a "ribbed" sole are less susceptible to this problem, but they have another dangerous drawback – they easily slip on a wet hard surface, such as tile or marble. This creates a danger that a person returning from the street will slip in the entrance or at the threshold of a house or office.
The authors of the article tried to create a sole that would be devoid of these shortcomings. The product of their efforts was a special polyurethane-based material that literally "drills" itself into ice at the micro level. Its key element is microscopic fibers made of glass, which come out of the surface of the sole with a light pressure and make it look like fine sandpaper to the touch.
Drawing from the article in Appl. Phys. Lett.
According to its physical properties, this material is no different from ordinary rubber and bends and stretches just as well. On dry and dense surfaces, it behaves in the same way as normal soles and does not show unusual tenacity, causing people to stumble or barely tear their feet off the surface.
According to scientists, they have already managed to solve the problems associated with the transition from laboratory to mass production, and soles based on this composite material can be manufactured now. Rizvi and his colleagues hope that their invention will help many elderly and sick people avoid injuries in winter and lead a more active lifestyle, which will no longer be threatened by falls and fractures.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru20.03.2015