Effect of Floor Morphology on Human Stepping Friction under Heeling Condition

Stepping friction of human is an intermittent friction between sole and floor during walking. As one of the important factors of stepping friction, the effect of floor surface morphology had been paid many attentions in recent years. However, the existing researches focus on level walking, and there are only small amounts on ramp walking, especially under heeling condition. Different surface morphologies of floor were planed on carbon steel, the relationships between floor morphology and its maximum critical friction coefficient on level walking were obtained by slipmeter. The effects of floor morphology on stepping friction under heeling condition were measured by gait friction tester. Results showed that both of the critical friction coefficient and available coefficient of friction increased along with the increasing of surface roughness or decreasing of texture distance on level walking, the available coefficient of friction and its lateral component increased along with the increasing of angle under heeling condition, orientation of surface texture significantly affected the slip resistance of floor.