A 3-dimensional finite element model of a newly designed adjustable high-heeled shoe

Abstract

Footwear plays a crucial role in several activities to realize aesthetic and cultural needs of urban society. The increasing popularity of high-heeled shoes (HHS) can be attributed to modern fashion, job requirement, and common belief in enhancing aesthetic appeal. Although most women like wearing HHS, it has been reported to be associated with foot problems, i.e., changing the body alignment and muscle activities, knee joint osteoarthritis, lower back pains, redistribute the plantar pressure and ground reaction forces as well as forefoot diseases, which finally can trigger clinical problems of lower extremity. However, wearing a flat-heeled shoe (FHS) would not be accompanied with such problems in the foot. This is why women would be pleased if they could have an adjustable HHS with fast, easy switching ability to a FHS one according to their needs. Therefore, this study was aimed at proposing a newly designed adjustable HHS/FHS to be worn by women for the sake of comfort. To do that, a 3-dimensional computational finite element (FE) model of our own proposed adjustable HHS/FHS was established and the amounts of stress and deformation in the foot and footwear during a simple standing were calculated and compared. The results revealed a lower von Mises stress in the soft tissue and bony structures of the foot when wearing a FHS compared to that of the HHS. The results have implication not only for proposing a newly designed adjustable HHS/FHS to the market, but also for deep understanding of foot and footwear biomechanics and proving women with an innovative flexible design which both keeps their fashion and comfort.