title: A numerical approach to evaluate the fatigue life of monolimb.
abstract: Monolimb refers to a transtibial prosthesis with the prosthetic socket and the shank being molded into one piece of thermoplastic material. Shank flexibility of a monolimb can improve gait and comfort. However, fatigue failure of monolimbs under cyclic walking load is an important concern. This study is to evaluate the fatigue life of a monolimb designed for a transtibial amputee, based on finite element analysis, the statistical Miner's rule and reliability analysis. Stress uncertainty due to modeling error and the scatter in fatigue test data were considered. Results indicated that the accuracy of fatigue life evaluation of monolimb depends significantly on the precision of stress estimation. In addition, relationship between fatigue failure probability and the number of walking steps was suggested providing a reference for clinicians to determine the interval of the inspection for the monolimb.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Technology and Informatics, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hunghom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Nian-Zhong
authors.initials: NZ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Winson C C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000674:Amputees / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001186:Artificial Limbs; D003198:Computer Simulation; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007720:Knee Prosthesis; D008954:Models, Biological; D009716:Numerical Analysis, Computer-Assisted; D011475:Prosthesis Failure