Heel pad dissipates the energy as the heel pad becomes rapidly stiffer: finite element analysis

Heel pad can absorb shock during gait as heel pad can dissipate the energy. According to the researches, the stiffer heel pad has the elevated energy dissipation. In this study, the heel pad stiffness variation was measured as the distributed force on the heel pad was increasing. As a result, the heel pad became stiffer as the compressibility index, which represents the distributed force amount on the heel pad, was increasing. Based on the result, when the distributed force on the heel pad increases, the heel pad becomes stiffer to dissipate more energy for relieving the impact loading.