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Design Optimization and Development of Tubular Isogrid Composites Tubes for Lower Limb Prosthesis

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Abstract

From the beginnings of humanity, natural or unnatural misfortunes such as illnesses, wars, automobile accidents cause loss of body limbs like teeth, arms, legs, etc. The solution found for the replacement of these missing limbs is in the use of prostheses. Lower limbs tubes or pylons are prosthetics components that are claimed to support loads during walking and other daily tasks activities. Commonly, prosthetic tubes are manufactured using metal materials such as stainless steel, aluminum and titanium. The mass of these tubes is generally high compared to tubes made of carbon fiber reinforced polymer matrix (CFRP) composite. Therefore, this work has the objective of design, manufacturing and analyzing the feasibility of a new tube concept, made of composite material, which makes use of lattice structure and inner layer. Until the present moment, lower limb prosthesis tubes using lattice structure and ineer layer have never been studied and/or tested to date. It can be stated that the tube of rigid ribs with inner layer and angle of 40° is more efficient than those of 26° and 30°. The proposed design allows a structural weight reduction in high performance prostheses from 120 g to 40 g.

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Abbreviations

Φ :

Angle of helical ribs with respect to the axial axis of the structure

δ h :

Width of helical ribs

δ c :

Width of circular ribs

α h :

Distance between helical ribs

α c :

Distance between circular ribs

ρ h :

Specific mass of the augers

\( \overline{h} \) :

Average thickness of rigid ribs

\( \overline{\delta_h} \) :

Average width of helical ribs

\( \overline{\delta_c} \) :

Average width of circular ribs

\( \overline{\rho} \) :

Average specific mass of rigid ribs

σ h :

Helical ribs rupture stress

σ c :

Circular ribs rupture stress

D :

Diameter of the isogrid tube

E c :

Circular ribs modulus of elasticity

E h :

Modulus of elasticity of the helical ribs

h :

Thickness of the isogrid

k :

Buckling factor

L :

Length of the isogrid tube

M :

Structure mass

P :

Loading factor

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support from the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Funding Authority for Studies and Projects (FINEP) for the project number 01.13.0169.00 and Altair Hyperworks®.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Institute, Federal University of Itajubá (UNIFEI), Av. BPS, 1303, Itajubá, 37500-903, Brazil

    Diego Morais Junqueira, Guilherme Ferreira Gomes & Antonio Carlos Ancelotti Jr

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of São João Del-Rey (UFSJ), Frei Orlando, 170, São João Del Rei, 36307-352, Brazil

    Márcio Eduardo Silveira

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  1. Diego Morais Junqueira
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Correspondence to Guilherme Ferreira Gomes.

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Junqueira, D.M., Gomes, G.F., Silveira, M.E. et al. Design Optimization and Development of Tubular Isogrid Composites Tubes for Lower Limb Prosthesis. Appl Compos Mater 26, 273–297 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10443-018-9692-2

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