Two-material-based transtibial socket designs for enhanced load-bearing capacity using FEA

Jindal, P, Prakash, P, Bassal, H, Singh, P, Arsh M. Din, M, Barnett, CT ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6898-9095 and Breedon, P ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1006-0942, 2025. Two-material-based transtibial socket designs for enhanced load-bearing capacity using FEA. Prosthesis. ISSN 2673-1592

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Abstract

Background: Transtibial prosthetic sockets are critical components in the complete assembly of a prosthetic, as they form the major load-bearing parts by housing the residual limb of a prosthesis user. Conventional procedures for manufacturing these sockets require repeated iterations and manual casting, baking, and drying, which often lead to longer processing and waiting times. Additive Manufacturing (AM) enables the creation of bespoke designs with meticulous control over the socket’s shape, thickness, and material composition.

Method: To design and propose an optimal socket design to a lower-limb prosthetic user based on their preference of activity such as walking, running, and jumping, we investigated seven materials—Polypropylene (PP) standard material for conventional socket fabrication, Polylactic-acid-plus (PLA+), Polyamide (PA) Natural, Polyamide-6-Glass-Fiber (PA6-GF), Polyamide-copolymer (CoPA), Polyamide-6-Carbon-Fiber (PA6-CF), and Polyamide-12-Carbon-Fiber (PA12-CF)—that have AM compatibility by subjecting them to heavy external loading and evaluating their von Mises stress–strain behavior.

Result: Using Finite Element Analysis (FEA), we evaluated a single-material design and a combination design with two materials—one major (low cost) and one minor (higher cost)—to optimize a composition that would bear heavy external loads without yielding. A maximum load-bearing capacity of 3650 N was achieved with the combination of PLA+ and 31.54 vol% PA6-CF (30.23 weight%, 99.13 g), costing about USD 14 for the total socket material. Similarly, a combination of PLA+ with 31.54 vol% PA6-GF (30.76 weight%, 101.67 g) exhibited a maximum load-bearing capacity of 2528.91 N.

Conclusions: The presence of high-strength CF and GF in minor compositions and at critical locations within the transtibial socket are the suggested reasons for these enhanced load-bearing capacities, due to which these sockets could be used for undertaking a wider range of activities by the prosthesis users.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Prosthesis
Creators:	Jindal, P., Prakash, P., Bassal, H., Singh, P., Arsh M. Din, M., Barnett, C.T. and Breedon, P.
Publisher:	MDPI
Date:	13 March 2025
ISSN:	2673-1592
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3390/prosthesis7020030 DOI 2404582 Other
Rights:	© 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Laura Borcherds
Date Added:	13 Mar 2025 10:45
Last Modified:	13 Mar 2025 10:45
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/53236

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