Abstract
Insoles provide resistance to ground reaction forces and comfort during walking. In this study, a novel weft-knitted spacer fabric structure with inlays for insoles is proposed which not only absorbs shock and resists pressure, but also allows heat dissipation for enhanced thermal comfort. The results show that the inlay density and spacer yarn increase compression resistance and reduce impact forces. The increased spacer yarn density provides better air permeability but reduces thermal resistance, while a lower inlay density with a random orientation reduces the evaporative resistance. The proposed structure has significantly positive implications for insole applications.
Highlights
Insoles act as an important cushioning feature at the interface between the foot and footwear to manipulate the distribution of plantar pressure for foot protection and wear comfort
This study found that over 99 percent of the variance in air permeability is accounted for by the spacer yarn density (η2 = 0.996) and inlay density (η2 = 0.991) but no significant difference is found with the orientation of the inlays (p > 0.05)
It is interesting that the fabrics with a higher spacer yarn density (AS2, BC2, BS2, CS2 and C2) have a relatively higher air permeability than those with less spacer yarn (AS1, BC1, BS1, CS1 and C1)
Summary
Insoles act as an important cushioning feature at the interface between the foot and footwear to manipulate the distribution of plantar pressure for foot protection and wear comfort. In weft knitted spacer fabric, the connective layer is developed by using spacer filaments to form tuck stitches by using the front and back needle beds to create support for the two surface layers of fabric [12]. This sandwich structure provides spacer fabric with excellent air and moisture permeabilities, cushioning performance and pressure distribution [8,10,13,14,15]
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