Globally, the most prevalent reasons of lower extremity amputation are diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, trauma, tumors and congenital abnormalities. Though modern lower limb prosthetic devices are available in the market, affordability for amputees in developing and underdeveloped nations is a concern, so it is required to make it more accessible with more economical options. This research is an initiative to develop a composite shank tube by filament winding technique as an alternative to conventional metallic tubes for prosthetic components. The composite materials used for this study included glass fiber/epoxy and hybrid fiber (glass + carbon)/epoxy. The composite tubes were manually fabricated and were subjected to axial compression test to estimate the loading bearing and energy absorption capacities. The composite's material properties were determined as per ASTM standards. The obtained properties and experimental data were used to carry out simulations for the composite tubes with ANSYS ® 2021 software package under quasistatic loading conditions. Based on the research that was done, the overall performance of Hybrid Fiber tube in terms of peak loads and energy absorption indexes looks good, and there is a high possibility that they could be used as a loadbearing part in a lower limb prosthetic system.

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A prosthetic knee is an important, functional, dynamic component of a transfemoral prosthesis. This paper details a step-by-step fabrication procedure for a passive polycentric knee using carbon-fabric-reinforced polymer in a sequential order. The Solidworks® 2022 software package was used for part modelling and assembling. The three-dimensional model developed was the base for planning, visual ideation, feasibility assessment and physical prototyping. The parts of the composite knee were manufactured using a vacuum-assisted resin-infusion method. The moulds for the infusion process were designed and developed by fused-deposition modelling. The experimental static structural testing was performed in accordance with the ISO 10328 standard to evaluate the structural strength of the prosthetic knee.