Modelling of the performance of leather in a uni-axial shoe-last simulator

Abstract

Previously developed constitutive equations are presented and discussed for shoe upper leather which undergoes large deformation. An energy potential function has been established using total Lagrangian strains for computer modelling of finite deformation of leather in shoe lasting. A practical last simulator, composed of a cylindrical last and uni-axial leather strip, has been developed to model a one-dimensional simulation of the lasting process. Experiments have been carried out to study the effects of different friction characteristics at the leather-last interface. The experimental results for the variation of the lasting force with the last displacement are presented and shown to be closely predicted by the computer models based on the multi-axial constitutive equations.