A biomechanical multibody foot model for forward dynamic analysis

The main purpose of this work is to present a three dimensional biomechanical multibody foot model suitable to perform forward dynamic analysis. The proposed approach takes into accounts the different contact phenomena that develop between the foot and ground during the stance phase of the human gait. The interaction between the foot and ground bodies is provided by the introduction of a set of spheres under the plantar surface of the foot. A general mathematical methodology for contact detection between the foot and ground surfaces is presented. Then, in a simple way, when the foot-ground contact occurs, appropriate constitutive laws for contact phenomena are applied. These laws take into account the vertical ground reaction force as well as the friction phenomena, namely the Coulomb and viscoelastic friction effects. Finally, the results obtained from computational and experimental analysis are used to discuss the procedures adopted through this work.