Numerical study of the effects of prosthesis foot asymmetry on energy characters and roll-over characteristics

Abstract

There is limited research available on the effect of asymmetric structure on the performance of the prosthesis. In this paper, 12 sets of prosthetic feet with asymmetric structures were developed using a planar polar coordinate system. The effect of asymmetry on the prosthesis performance was investigated. The prosthetic feet with asymmetric structures were modeled in a gradient manner within a polar coordinate system. A finite element (FE) model of the prosthetic walking process was formulated, and dynamic simulations were conducted to simulate the loading of the prosthesis during the support phase. Evaluation indices such as energy characteristics, contact pressure and roll-over shape were selected to investigate the effects of the asymmetric structure. The results indicate that θ 1 and θ 3 asymmetry significantly affects strain energy density. Moreover, incorporating heel asymmetry proves to be more advantageous in reducing contact pressure of the prosthesis during the middle stance moment. The optimal parameters for asymmetric prostheses are determined based on these findings.