Title: An innovative virtual-engineering system for supporting integrated footwear design

Authors: Philip Azariadis, Vassilis Moulianitis, Jose Olaso Melis, Sandra Alemany, Juan Carlos Gonzalez, Pamela De Jong, Paraskevas Dunias, Marc Van der Zande, Dave Brands

Addresses: University of the Aegean, Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering, 84100 Emroupolis, Syros, Greece; ELKEDE – Technology and Design Centre SA, 12 km Athens – Lamia National Road, 14454 Metamorphosis, Greece. ' University of the Aegean, Department of Product and Systems Design Engineering, 84100 Emroupolis, Syros, Greece; ELKEDE – Technology and Design Centre SA, 12 km Athens – Lamia National Road, 14454 Metamorphosis, Greece. ' Instituto de Biomecanica de Valencia (IBV), Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Edificio 9C, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain. ' Instituto de Biomecanica de Valencia (IBV), Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Edificio 9C, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain. ' Instituto de Biomecanica de Valencia (IBV), Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Edificio 9C, Camino de Vera s/n, 46022 Valencia, Spain. ' TNO-Science Industry, De Rondom 1, NL-5612 AP Eindhoven, The Netherlands. ' TNO-Science Industry, De Rondom 1, NL-5612 AP Eindhoven, The Netherlands. ' TNO-Science Industry, De Rondom 1, NL-5612 AP Eindhoven, The Netherlands. ' TNO-Science Industry, De Rondom 1, NL-5612 AP Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Abstract: This paper presents a new virtual-engineering platform, called as virtual shoe test bed (VSTB), for supporting the design of footwear from the engineering point of view. The proposed VSTB system includes various functional design criteria in order to support the definition of the best solution for each product utilising scenarios based on user needs and preferences. Using the proposed virtual-engineering system a designer is able to simulate the behaviour of footwear components and the interaction between shoe and user in order to derive a predictive estimation of the fitting, thermal comfort and performance ratings without the necessity to manufacture and validate physical prototypes. The present paper describes the architecture, the tests implemented in the final system along with corresponding lab experiments conducted in terms of industrial validation. All results and hints for future research are reported and discussed.

Keywords: shoe design; functional criteria; shoe performance rating; simulation; integrated design; virtual engineering platform; footwear design; product design; shoe fitting; thermal comfort.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIEI.2010.033529

International Journal of Intelligent Engineering Informatics, 2010 Vol.1 No.1, pp.53 - 74

Published online: 02 Jun 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article