A Study of the Mechanical Properties and Gait Cycle Parameter for a Below-Knee Prosthetic Socket

Abstract

This work involved an experimental study into the tensile and fatigue properties of selected below-knee prosthetic socket materials fabricated using a vacuum moulding technique. The composite materials were composed of number of carbon-fibre layers (8 layers) and carbon fibre with perlon layers (11 layers).The Ground Reaction Force (GRF), Center of Pressure (COP) and pressure distribution) for a patient of around 27years old of height 170cm and weight75kg were measured, and the results showed that the ultimate stress ( utt )for carbon fibrewas135 MPa, while for carbon fibre with perlon in an 80:20 matrix, it was 98 MPa.The fatigue limit for carbon fibre was 30 MPa and for carbon fibre with perlon it was 45 MPa. The data on gait cycle GRF was gained by using a force plate to measure pressure distribution using an F-socket, and these were collected using a patient with a below-knee amputation wearing a prosthetic of type BK. The internal pressure between the patient's stump and the prosthetic socket was measured by using the F-socket Mat scan sensor; this reached its maximum value (52KPa) at both heel strike and toe off.