ME273 Term Project SP2022

Prosthesis are mechanical devices that are intended to restore a degree of normal function to amputees.  As there are many various designs, this project focuses on the running blade style design but used for jumping applications for athletes. Commonly, blades are usually created in a multilayered, single piece design but because there were concern of the high stress application and interest in seeing the behavior of an isotropic material, the prosthesis leg will be examined with Aluminum 6061-T6.

One aspect in developing a prosthesis is safety for the end user.  A question that arises is how long the part can last; its life cycle. Therefore, the goal of this project is maximizing the factor of safety on stress of the blade to improve the life cycle and safety for the end user using the Meshing and Design Optimization features of ANSYS through geometric optimization.

The process of the project was to create the model using designer modeler built into ANSYS to be able to parametrize specific dimensions and results. The model was subjected to mesh analysis through iterations to find a good pre-analysis mesh with convergence found through checking between average and unaverage value of von mises stresses and checking the magnitude of von mises stresses and total deformation. There were edges present that caused singularity in which they were not included in part of the analysis. A sensitivity analysis was then performed showing large variation as the dimension changed were the  bottom square's and vertical square's length and width, and the side slot's length and radius to optimize stress and factor of safety. Optimization was then performed with the final dimensions  obtained that met the specifications and constraints of the project.