Manufacturing and Analyzing of a New Prosthetic Shank with Adapters by 3D Printer

A lower limb amputation is most often caused by accidents or limb disease. The primary purpose of socket, shank and prosthetic foot, is to provide means to replace the skeletal function, missing structure muscles of ankle, pylon and foot. Traditional prosthetic shank is manufactured from titanium-aluminum alloy due to its light weight. In this work, the shank is designed and analysis by solid work software and then manufacturing by 3D printer to ensure good distribution of load on the walls of shank. The new shank made from different materials (ABS, PLA). During the gait cycle test by force plate, the gait cycle there are two phases, one of which is the swing phase, the second phase is the phase stance, and the reaction force of ground is generated in this phase, amount for which is at the heel, toe is 1.3 of the amputee’s weight, and then design a special device to examine the life of the new shank by alternating load. After the practical and numerical analysis of the shank, it became clear that the mechanical properties of the new shank were good, according to the requirements of the properties of the prosthetic limbs.