Critical shoe contact area ratio for sliding on a tennis hard court

Abstract

Dimples have been used in the design of some modern tennis shoe outsoles to enhance sliding ability on hard courts. Experiments were performed with bespoke rubber samples possessing various numbers of holes, which served to simulate dimples in tennis shoe treads, the aim being to assess the effect of contact area on sliding friction. It was found that as the ratio of holes to solid rubber increases, a critical ratio is reached whereby the static friction coefficient drops by more than 11% for tread-to-court pressures comparable to real tennis play. Though experiments reported here concern bespoke rubber samples, shoe manufacturers should be interested in the appearance of a critical dimple ratio that could aid them in the creation of tennis shoes suited for sliding on hard courts.

Tapadási és mozgási súrlódási tényező meghatározása sportpálya burkolaton

“…A padlóburkolatok és a sportcipők közötti súrlódási tényező kérdésével számos irodalom foglalkozik (pl. [2,3,4]).…”

“…A mérésünk során a felületre merőleges erőt a terhelő tömegből számított súlyerővel egyenlőnek vesszük, azaz . (2) Az erő-idő diagramokból jól megkülönböztethető a tapadási (statikus) és a mozgási (kinetikus) súrlódási erő. A mozgási súrlódási tényező a tapadási/nyugvó súrlódási tényezőnél általában kisebb.…”

Resources for sports engineering education

“…Clarke et al [80] illustrated the key components of studying shoe/surface interactions. Very recent research has identified a critical hole area ratio, which is the ratio of dimpled hole area to the total shoe contact area, for tennis shoes sliding on a hard court [81]. Allen et al [82] showcase the effect of friction on tennis ball impacts.…”

Traction performance modeling of worn footwear with perpendicular treads

“…It was also found that friction was influenced by the outsole tread's sliding history and the wearing behaviour. In another study by Goff et al [22], Custom rubber samples with varying numbers of holes were used in trials to mimic the dimples found in tennis shoe treads. The static friction coefficient got significantly reduced as the ratio of holes to solid rubber increased until a critical ratio was reached.…”