Mechanical suitability of carbon fiber based composite for chopart prosthetic socket

Abstract

Material selection has important role in the design of prosthetics. Presently, polyethylene (PE) has been majorly used in the manufacture of chopart prosthetic socket due to it mouldability and low cost, but suffers from large weight to strength ratio. In the present study, carbon fiber composite (CF) is compared with PE for its usability in chopart prosthetic sockets. 3 perlon layers-2 carbon fiber layer-3 perlon layers (3P-2C-3P) lamination was developed and tested for the mechanical properties. Later, the tested mechanical properties of PE and CF were used in finite element modelling to analyze stresses and deformation in the Chopart prosthetic socket. The study showed that use of CF in chopart prosthetic sockets reduces stress by 70.6% as compared to PE, and could be suggested as mechanically superior material in design of chopart prosthetic socket compared to PE.