El calzado desempeña un papel importante en la vida humana. Además de proteger y abrigar, debe tener otra función importante: ser antideslizante.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University recently reported that they have developed a biomimetic shoe material that dynamically adjusts friction, taking inspiration from animals.

Animals behave in a variety of ways in nature, and some species have evolved special structures to better adapt to their environment, such as the claws of cheetahs and cow-pecking birds, and the scales of snakes. Under certain circumstances, these special structures can help the animal selectively increase friction and hold onto objects or the ground firmly.

Inspired by this, the researchers developed a slip-proof sole similar to the snake-scale structure, drawing on the art of paper cutting. When the wearer stays still, he does not feel anything unusual; But during walking, the bending of the sole triggers the spikes, which increase friction with the ground and reduce the risk of slipping.

The sole is made of steel with a thickness of 0.051mm and young's modulus is 193GPa. The researchers designed three different types of tacks and tested them on ice, plastic and hardwood surfaces. The normal triangular tacks provided only a modest friction boost, while the concave tacks showed the highest. Moreover, the anti-skid effect of the sole is the most significant on the ice, with the static friction coefficient increasing by 7 times and the dynamic friction coefficient increasing by 14 times compared with the non-non-skid soles.

In practice, because everyone has a slightly different gait, the anti-skid effect of the sole will be slightly different. Researchers look for the three size, weight is relatively similar volunteer test, they wore a bionic shoes and other commercially available with a variety of antiskid pattern of shoes (e.g., ugg boots, sports shoes, casual shoes and sandals) walk on the ice, the results show that the bionic shoes can effectively enhance the friction, the friction coefficient is twice the merchandise sole.

The innovative research addresses the problem of people slipping on smooth surfaces and could be applied to the design of non-slip shoes in icy roads, wet or greasy environments. However, its anti-skid effect on ordinary pavement (such as gravel road, etc.) and its practicality in daily life remain to be explored.