Biomechanical Analysis of Military Boots. Phase 3. Recommendations for the Designof Future Military Boots

摘要

This report contains a series of recommendations for the design of futuremilitary footwear. The recommendations relate to shock attenuation, midsole stiffness, medio-lateral stability, and upper construction. Approaches for implementing the recommendations, including material selection and construction techniques, are discussed. The recommendations are based upon findings from a two-phase research program to assess the biomechanical properties of boots presently used by military personnel. The military boots used in the research were the black leather combat boot and the hot weather boot. Commercial sport shoes and boots also were tested. These included a cross trainer, a work boot, a basketball shoe and a hiking boot. In Phase I, the military and commercial footwear items were subjected to materials tests that included measures of impact, flexibility, stability, resistance of the outer sole to wear, water penetration, and frictional properties of the outsole. In Phase II, men and women wore the footwear while walking, marching, running, jumping from heights and running an agility course. The data acquired included ground reaction forces, in-shoe pressures, sagittal plane kinematics, rearfoot movement, leg muscle activity, metabolic rate, and heart rate. The findings from Phase I (NATICK/TR-93/006), and Phase II VOL I (NATICK/TR-96/Oll) and Phase II VOL II (NATICK/TR-96/Ol2) are summarized and presented with the recommendations.