SOLE OF A SOLDIER

Rockdale Magnet School For Science and TechnologyThursday, April 20, 2023

INTRODUCTION

• Personal Interest in Military• Combat boots are issued to every solider

– Sole design is based on the terrain and intended use of the boot

GOAL

• Design a mixed-use combat boot for the 21st century soldier who encounters deserts, mountains, and jungles

• Develop a new sole design that would out perform (have better all around traction) than currently used designs

BACKGROUND

• Ripple, Sahara, Panama, Lug, Vibram®Sierra, and Basic (ALTAMA®, 2008)

• Factors of Traction: – surface’s material properties – the macroscopic and microscopic shape or

"roughness“– force of contact– area of contact – contaminants at the materials boundary including

lubricants and adhesives– (Bowden and Tabor, 1986)

MATERIALS

Sierra Design Panama Design

MOLD DESIGN

SAHARA BOOT DESIGN

PANAMA BOOT DESIGN

PROTOTYPE BOOT DESIGN

Facing Up

TABLESBEFORE CLEANING

AVERAGE (cm) 52.12 57.78 57.48

ANGLE 31.41° 35.3° 35.09°

COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION 0.6106 0.708 0.7026

AVERAGE (cm) 54.64 53.48 59.12

ANGLE 33.12° 32.33° 36.24°

COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION 0.6524 0.6329 0.733

Facing DownFacing Down

Sahara Panama Proto Sahara Panama Proto

TABLES

AVERAGE (cm) 54.14 56.2 59.26

ANGLE 32.78° 34.19° 36.34°

COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION 0.644 0.6793 0.7356

AFTER CLEANING

AVERAGE (cm) 54.4 56.16 56.62

ANGLE 32.96° 34.31° 34.48°

COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION 0.6484 0.6824 0.6868

Facing Up Facing Down

Sahara Panama Proto Sahara Panama Proto

BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

CONCLUSION

• Overall Goal: redesign a military combat boot sole that has significant all around traction for the 21st century soldier

• Prototype design outperformed the two control combat boots

ASSUMPTIONS AND SOURCES OF ERROR

• Test simulates real world applications• One of the boots reacted with the rubber

compound• Lubrication on a few of the boots while testing

FUTURE RESEARCH

• Test different sole designs – Make smaller incremental changes

• Test different sole materials – Mixture of common vulcanized rubbers?

• Work with the military to overcome government boundaries and access issues

Acknowledgements

• Ken Shinmura– Assisted with Inventor Software

• Research Teacher– Mrs. Amanda Baskett

• Rockdale Magnet School – Funding

REFERENCES

1936 The intuition. Retrieved December 15, 2008, from Vibram Web site:

http://www.vibram.com/index.php/us/VIBRAM/About-Us/The-History

ALTAMA, Mil-Spec. Retrieved May 17, 2008, from Altama Military Footwear Web site:

http://www.altama.com/Tp1/search_bycategoryInner.aspx?code=Mil-Spec

Blau, P.J. (1996). Friction Science and Technology. New York. Dekker

Bowden, F.P.; Tabor, D (1973). Friction: An introduction to Tribology. New York Anchor Press/Doubleday

Bowden, F.P.; Tabor, D (1986). The Friction and Lubrication of Solids. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press

Countermeasure, (2006, February). Fatal Falls. CM Countermeasure, 27, 16-17.

Kaufma, K. (2000). Military training-related injuries surveillance, research, and prevention. American Journal of

Preventative Medicine, v181, 1, 54-63

Researchers use cutting edge technology to help develop new Marine combat boot. (1998, March). Navy

Medicine, 89(2), 28. Retrieved August 21, 2008, from AP Science database. (Document ID: 37936451).

Ruina, A (1983). Slip instability & State Variable Friction Laws. Journal of Geophysical Research. 88, 10359-10376

Questions?

SOLE OF A SOLDIER