Dow Elastomers

Advances in Midsole Technology

Kyle G. Kummer Presented at
Global Application Technology Leader, Footwear The 2014 Northwest Apparel
Michael Shoemaker & Footwear Materials Show
Global Strategic Marketing Manager, Sporting Goods Sept. 18th Portland, Oregon
www.Dow.com/Footwear
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Agenda

• Introduction/Abstract
• Evolution of Athletic Shoes
• Market Overview
• Performance Drivers
• Olefin Block Copolymer (OBC) Technology
• OBC Performance vs. Other Materials in Midsoles
• Conclusion

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Evolution of Athletic Shoes

1960 New Balance “Trackster” first mass produced running shoe

with ripple tread; also first available in multiple widths

1967 Distance Running publishes first shoe review

1971 Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman experiments with replacing spikes

with a PU outsole made in his wife’s waffle iron

1977 Brooks Vantage, first EVA midsole with “varus wedge” to help pronation,
start of emphasis on cushioning and motion control

1979 First Nike Air released using air bladder for cushioning

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Evolution of Athletic Shoes

1982 New Balance 990 released, breaking the $100/pair

barrier, using PU foam midsole

1989 Reebok “Pump,” customizable fit

2005 Vibram “Five Fingers” ushers in “minimalist” trend

2009 Hoka One One, maximum cushioning shoe

2013 Adidas BOOST, E-TPU solution with better cushioning

in minimum package space

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Key Market Trends: Purchase Influencers(1)

Product Quality 70% 22% 6%

Value for the Price 58% 31% 9% 1%

Past Experience with the Brand 48% 35% 13% 2%

Style/Fashion/Fit 47% 32% 14% 4%

Innovation/Technology 34% 33% 22% 6% 5%

Low Price 34% 31% 22% 8% 5%

Brand Name 29% 32% 23% 8% 8%

Environmental Initiatives 23% 24% 26% 12% 15%

Athlete/Celebrity Sponsorship 16% 13% 15% 12% 43%

Extremely Important Somewhat Important Neutral Somewhat Unimportant Not at all Important

• Product Quality, Value for the Price consistently top influencers

• “Low Price” drops for third year in a row to 6th
• “Innovation/Technology” surpassed “Low Price” for first time

(1)From Sporting Goods Business Weekly, June 2, 2014 edition, pg. 15, “Influences on Footwear Purchases”
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Key Market Trends: Running Shoes(1)

• Consumer buying decision increasingly driven by foam performance

• Stability & Motion Control lose share of mind of the Consumer
• Brand Owner placing greater emphasis on foam performance in
response to consumer interest
Stability
Percent of Total Road Running Shoes by Category Neutral/Cushion
Motion Control
70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

(1)Source: Leisure Trends Group webinar, November 2013, “Running Specialty Retail Sales and Trends in 2013”
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Consumer Needs

Foam Performance
Performance = Energy Management
• Increased Rebound:
Energy returned during “push-off”
• Light Weight / Softness:
More comfortable experience
• Reduced Dynamic Compression Set:
Foam retains performance over time

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Material Descriptions
Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) Block Copolymers
• Conventional 18% VA
• High VA EVA- 40% VA

HARD SEGMENT

SOFT SEGMENT

Block Copolymers Hard Segment Soft Segment

E-TPU Aliphatic Isocyanate + Short Isocyanate + Long Chain
(Bead Foam) Chain Diols (Ester, Ether & PC) Diols
SEBS Styrene Ethylene Butene

OBC High Density Ethylene Ethylene Octene

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Random vs. Block Copolymer Structures

Random Copolymers
• Adding more comonomer lowers the polymer’s
crystallinity / density while increasing the
Less comonomer and higher density flexibility.
• However, the melting and crystallization
temperatures and heat resistance also drop as
density decreases.
More comonomer and lower density

Olefin Block Copolymers

• OBCs use same raw materials arranged into
Soft blocks alternating “soft” and “hard” blocks.
• The soft blocks deliver flexibility and the hard
blocks deliver heat resistance

Hard blocks

The block structure provides improved heat resistance, elastic

recovery, compression set, and cycle times.

9
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Higher Heat Resistance(1)

DSC Melting Curves (10°

C/min) Melting Temperature versus Density
0.9 130

0.8 OBC (1MI, 0.877 g/cc) 120

OBC (5MI, 0.865 g/cc)
0.7 110
Random (3MI, 0.875 g/cc)

C
Melting Temperature °
0.6 Random (0.5MI, 0.863 g/cc) 100
Heat Flow, W/g

0.5 90

0.4 80

0.3 70

0.2 60
OBCs
0.1 50
Random Ethylene Copolymers
0 40
-60 -10 40 90 140 0.865 0.875 0.885 0.895
Temperature °
C Density (g/cc)
Measured by DSC @ 10oC/min

OBCs exhibit 50-60oC higher melt temperature versus random

ethylene copolymers of similar density
(1)
Data per tests conducted by Dow. Test protocols and additional information available upon request. Properties shown are
typical, not to be construed as specifications. Users should confirm results by their own tests.
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Higher Crystallization Temperature(1)

DSC Cooling Curves (10°

C/min) Crystallization Temperature versus Density
0 110

-0.2 100

C
Crystallization Temperature °
-0.4 90

-0.6 80
Heat Flow, W/g

OBC (1MI, 0.877 g/cc)

-0.8 OBC (5MI, 0.865 g/cc) 70
Random (3MI, 0.875 g/cc)
-1 60
Random (0.5MI, 0.863 g/cc)

-1.2 50

-1.4 OBCs
40
Random Copolymers
-1.6 30
-50 -30 -10 10 30 50 70 90 110 0.865 0.875 0.885 0.895
Temperature, °
C Density, g/cc
Measured by DSC @ 10oC/min

OBCs exhibit 50-60oC higher crystallization temperature

versus random ethylene copolymers of similar density
(1)
Data per tests conducted by Dow. Test protocols and additional information available upon request. Properties shown are
typical, not to be construed as specifications. Users should confirm results by their own tests.
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 Dynamic Mechanical Analysis ‒ Pure Material(1)
1.E+08
100% EVA
100% OBC (1 MI, 0.877 g/cc)
100% OBC (1 MI, 0.866 g/cc)
E-TPU
Storage Modulus, Pa

1.E+07

1.E+06

1.E+05
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50

Temperature, °C
OBCs and E-TPU show much lower modulus over a broad
temperature range versus conventional EVA foam
(1)
Data per tests conducted by Dow. Test protocols and additional information available upon request. Properties shown are
typical, not to be construed as specifications. Users should confirm results by their own tests.
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 Dynamic Mechanical Analysis – Blends(1)
1.E+08
100% EVA
40% H-EVA
40% OBC (1 MI, 0.877 g/cc)
Storage Modulus, Pa

40% OBC (1 MI, 0.866 g/cc)

1.E+07

1.E+06

1.E+05
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50

Temperature, °C

OBCs and H-EVA can be used to reduce the modulus of

conventional EVA foam
(1)
Data per tests conducted by Dow. Test protocols and additional information available upon request. Properties shown are
typical, not to be construed as specifications. Users should confirm results by their own tests.
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 Recovery After Dynamic Fatigue(1)
100.0%
100,000 cycles @ 40oC
90.0% 100% EVA
100% OBC (1 MI, 0.877 g/cc)
100% OBC (1 MI, 0.866 g/cc)
80.0%
E-TPU

70.0%
Recovery, %

60.0%

50.0%

40.0%

30.0%
0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000
Time, Hours

OBCs and E-TPU show significant recovery after dynamic fatigue

testing
(1)
Data per tests conducted by Dow. Test protocols and additional information available upon request. Properties shown are
typical, not to be construed as specifications. Users should confirm results by their own tests.
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Hardness Comparison: EVA, SEBS/Oil, and OBC(1)
70.0

Asker C (Foam)
60.0 Asker C (Skin)

50.0
Durometer

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0
100%EVA 40% SEBS/Oil 40% H-EVA 40% OBC 100% OBC
Sample
(1)
Data per tests conducted by Dow. Test protocols and additional information available upon request. Properties shown are
typical, not to be construed as specifications. Users should confirm results by their own tests.
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Compression Set: EVA, SEBS/Oil, and OBC(1)
90.0

CSET 25%, 23C/22h 30 min

80.0
CSET 25%, 50C/6h 30 min

70.0

60.0

50.0
CSET, %

40.0

30.0

20.0

10.0

0.0
100%EVA 40% SEBS/Oil 40% H-EVA 40% OBC 100% OBC

Sample
(1)
Data per tests conducted by Dow. Test protocols and additional information available upon request. Properties shown are
typical, not to be construed as specifications. Users should confirm results by their own tests.
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Shrinkage: EVA, SEBS/Oil, and OBC(1)
70%

Shrink (SA, %), 70C/24h c

60%
Shrink (SA, %), 100C/24h c

50%
Shrinkage, %

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
100%EVA 40% SEBS/Oil 40% H-EVA 40% OBC 100% OBC

Sample
(1)
Data per tests conducted by Dow. Test protocols and additional information available upon request. Properties shown are
typical, not to be construed as specifications. Users should confirm results by their own tests.
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% Rebound: EVA, SEBS/Oil, OBC,(1) and E-TPU(2)
70

65

60
Falling Ball Rebound, %

55

50

45

40

35

30
100%EVA
100% EVA 40% SEBS/Oil 40% H-EVA 40% OBC E-TPU 100% OBC
Sample
(1)
Data per tests conducted by Dow. Test protocols and additional information available upon request. Properties shown are
typical, not to be construed as specifications. Users should confirm results by their own tests.
“Adidas Attacks Running Shoe Business With Pure Boost Release,”
(2)Forbes,

Darren Heitner, SportsMoney 5/13/2014 @ 8:53AM

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Summary

• The Athletic Footwear industry is currently seeing a renewed interest in

developing improved properties for performance midsoles.

• New technologies such as Olefin Block Copolymers are emerging to

allow “minimalism” and advanced cushioning performance to merge

• Trade-offs exist in performance that need to be minimized when

choosing a modifier or replacement for EVA in midsoles

• Olefin Block Copolymers have shown a good balance of properties

over a wide temperature range with very good recovery after many
thousand cyclic deformations.

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Dow Elastomers

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the game for performance midsoles.

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