STATIC STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF

AN ANKLE FOOT ORTHOSIS MODEL

FOR REHABITALIZATION

171FA08030 – Menda Raju

171FA08049 – Tamma Kamal Nadh

Under the guidance of

Dr Gamini Suresh
Associate Professor
 CONTENT

 Introduction
 Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO)

 Model

 Static Structural Analysis

 Modified Model

 Results

 Conclusion

 References
INTRODUCTION

 Walking is the most basic form of human motion.

Millions of people in the world are unable to walk
normally because of gait disabilities.

 Foot drop gait is a kind of gait in which the

dropping of the forefoot happens due to the
weakness of the ankle and foot dorsiflexors
(Amerinatanzi et al., 2017).
Introduction- Continuation

 Drop foot which is also known as foot drop is an

anatomical problem where there is a weakness
or paralysis at the anterior portion of muscles of
the lower leg (Liu et al., 2013).

 Gait movement in foot drop patient may be

temporary or permanent depending on the main
cause of the foot drop.
GAIT CYCLE
COMPLICATIONS IN FOOT DROP
There are two common complications caused by drop
foot.

 First, the patient cannot control the falling of their

foot after a heel strike. As a result, the foot slaps the
ground on every step.

 The second complication is the inability of the

patients to clear their toe during the swing phase.
This causes the patients to drag their toe on the
ground throughout the swing phase
CAUSES OF FOOT DROP
FOOT DROP CAUSES:

 Difficult or unable to lift the foot

 Foot drags on the ground while walking
 Thigh is raising higher than normal to avoid
dragging (high stepping gait)
 The foot gives out pain or feels numb when
moving or lifting
ANKLE FOOT ORTHOSIS (AFO)
 It is a medical mechanical device to support and align
the ankle and foot, by assisting weak and paralyzed
muscles of the ankle and foot, to prevent deformities.
 AFO is a specially designed supportive medical
device which is intended to

(i) control the motion of the ankle and subtalar joints,

(ii)compensate for muscle weakness and drop foot,
(iii) correct deformities in the ankle and subtalar
joints due to injuries due to stroke, cerebral palsy and
others

They are of two types namely, Active AFO and

Passive AFO.
ACTIVE AFO
 Active AFOs possess the ability to interact with
the walking environment and act accordingly.
These types of AFOs are comprised of
electronic control system, actuator, power
system, and stiffness control.
PASSIVE AFO
 A typical passive AFO is a device which provides
constant torsional stiffness that limits the motion of
the ankle. It also braces the change in the
stiffness of the SMA(Shape Memory Alloy) wire is
similar to the natural change in stiffness of the
ankle joint in normal gait.
Salient Features of AFO

• It is found out that AFO’s have significant impact on

length and width of the steps.
• It doesn’t have any influence over speed, cadence,
symmetry of gait and balance.
• They improve kinetic performance of gait, ankle
kinematics, kinematics of knee in the static phase.
• It has no significant effect on knee joint and hip joint
kinematics in frontal and sagittal respectively
Objectives

•To analyze and determine the deformations

and Equivalent Stresses the model

•To modify the model for rehabitalization

Static Structural Analysis

•The main objective of this project is the

structural analysis and shape optimization of an
AFO model

•The analysis is being done in the ansys

workbench 2021 R1 student version
•In the workbench, from the
toolbox, static structural analysis
system was dragged into the
project schematic
Initial Model

•In the next step, the

model was imported into
the geometry.

•But the initial model is

without any thickness
•So we provided it with a
thickness of 4mm by using
pull option after selecting
the section that is be to
extruded
Engineering Data

In this model, we have used five materials in

which the values of young’s modulus, Poisson’s
ratio, density, Ultimate Tensile Strength(UTS)
and Yield Strength are assigned manually for
analyzing the model and the materials are:

ABS(Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene)

Poly-Propylene
Poly Ethylene
Poly Lactic Acid
CFRP(Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer)
ABS
CFRP
Poly Ethylene
Poly-Propylene
Poly Lactic Acid
Model

First, the geometry of the model is

assigned material which in this case
is ABS

The coordinate systems and the

connections are left unaltered

Then the mesh is generated which

in this case is auto-generated
Model After Meshing

After meshing, fixed

support was applied
on the sole reign
Applying Force

After the sole was fixed,

force of 50N, 100N, 150N
was applied on the calf
region of the AFO, so as
to determine :

 Deformation
 Equivalent Stress
 Equivalent Elastic Strain
 Normal Stress
 Normal Elastic Strain
 Shear Stress
 Shear Elastic Strain
Solution

After solving them to evaluate the results, we

get an accurate range of values from maximum
to minimum. Total Deformation and Equivalent
Stresses are determined and figures of them are
provided in the forthcoming slides
Total Deformation
Equivalent Stress
Results of Static Structural
Analysis

The previous images are for the Analysis of AFO

made of ABS material at 50N. The Analysis at
100N And 150N along with Poly-Ethylene,
Poly-Propylene, Poly-Lactic Acid and
Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Are also done
in the same manner

The results are listed in a table from the next slide onwards
Total Deformation
Equivalent Stress
Modified Model

•From the above results we have previously obtained,

We have found out that CFRP and ABS are having
Lesser value of deflection and equivalent stresses.

•So, for the case of shape optimizing we are only

using ABS material as the base and CFRP as a
connector connecting Calf and sole .
Calf

Assigned material for Calf - ABS

Connector

Assigned Material for connector - CFRP

Foot

Assigned material for foot - ABS

Assembled Model
Model
After importing the assembled model, material is
assigned to the Geometry.

Next, we inserted face sizing and refinement in

the mesh after selecting the geometry.

Size of the mesh element is taken as 21mm which

is the default value and is later reduced by 3mm
consequently.
Modal after meshing with
element size of 15mm
Applying Fixed Suport
Applying Forces :

Applying 50N of force in the

shown direction
Solution

After applying the force, the solution is determined

by right clicking on the solve after inserting
Total Deformation and Equivalent Stress at
varying forces that is 50N, 100N and 150N
respectively.
Total Deformation at 50N
Equivalent Stress at 50N
Total Deformation at 100N
Equivalent Stress at 100N
Total Deformation at 150N
Equivalent Stress at 150N
Similarly, material of the calf and the sole is
replaced with that of other materials such as
Poly-lactic Acid, Poly propylene and Poly ethylene
With the connector remaining as CFRP and the
results are tabulated as shown
Results of Modified AFO
Comparison of Total Deformation at 50N
Comparison of Equivalent Stress at 50N
Comparison of Total Deformation at 100N
Comparison of Equivalent Stress at 100N
Comparison of Total Deformation at 150N
Comparison of Equivalent Stress at 150N
Conclusion

AFO model has been developed and modified and the

maximum deformations and equivalent stresses are
obtained from the results. On comparing it showed
an increase in the deflection in case of the modified model
due the removal of material and presence of connector.
 
Due to the deflection, the modified model is more flexible
when compared to the model which is stiff and
the due to this, it is more comfortable and convenient when
compared to the articulated model.

ABS and Poly-Lactic acid are the best suited for the
fabrication of AFO due to their low deformations and
equivalent stresses, printability, optimal cost and
stiffness.
REFERENCES
1. Badescu M, Purcar C and Badescu D. Ankle foot orthoses with wire insertion.
Appl Mech Mater 2013; 371 : 554-558.
2. Chu T and Reddy NP. Stress distribution in the ankle foot orthosis used to
correct pathological gait. J Rehabil Res Dev 1995; 32(4): 349-360
3. Gomes G, Lourenco I, Oliveira J et al., structural reinforcements on AFO’s: A
study using computer aided design and finite element method. In: Proceedings
of the 2-17 IEEE 5th Portuguese meeting on bioengineering, coimbra,16-18
February 2017,pp.1-4.New York:IEEE.
4. Munguia, J., Dalgarno, K., 2013. “Ankle foot orthotics optimization by means
of composite reinforcement of free-form structures”. 24th International Solid
Freeform Fabrication Symposium - an Additive Manufacturing Conference,
SFF 2013, pp. 766–776.
5. Takhakh A, M., Abbas S, M., 2018. “Manufacturing and analysis of carbon
fiber knee ankle foot orthosis”. Int. J. Eng. Technol. 7: 2236