Stresses in Prosthetic Elbow Joint During Flexion-Extension Movement

Abstract

The present paper aims to study the virtual behavior of a prosthetic elbow joint. The values and distribution of stresses in the prosthetic elbow joint by using FEA on the 3D virtual model during flexion-extension movement under the solicitation of a vertical external force are obtained. They are compared with those developed on the human healthy elbow joint. Solid Works software is used in order to obtain the virtual model and Visual Nastran to obtain the von Mises stress by finite element analysis. The maximum stresses values in metallic components of prosthetic elbow are about 4-5 times higher than those obtained in healthy elbow, for a flexion angle equal to 90 degrees.