Loris Emanuelli
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2022 / Arts et Metiers Institute of Technology

Pediatric Prosthetic Foot

3D-printed foot prosthesis validated with testing and FEM

Final prosthetic foot CAD render

Overview

Design of a pediatric prosthetic foot for indoor daily use, combining motion analysis, mechanical sizing, CATIA modeling, PLA FDM prototyping, compression testing, and Abaqus validation.

Problem / Context

The prosthesis had to fit a EU 26 shoe, support an 800 N load, remain manufacturable by FDM printing, and provide enough flexibility for a natural gait instead of behaving like a rigid wooden leg.

Role

Team project (case study) - Arts et Metiers Institute of Technology

Institution

Arts et Metiers Institute of Technology

Team

Loris Emanuelli, Maxime Cros, Clement Roux, Julien Cardeillac

Tags

Biomechanics / CAD / FEA / Prototyping

Process

  • - Defined functional requirements with bete a cornes and pieuvre diagrams
  • - Benchmarked existing prosthetic foot geometries and material families
  • - Analyzed gait and ground reaction data in MATLAB
  • - Modeled successive prosthesis versions in CATIA V5
  • - Printed the first PLA prototype and tested it in compression
  • - Correlated experimental behavior with Abaqus simulations

Key design decisions

  • - Kept FDM PLA as the imposed manufacturing route despite carbon-composite material benchmarks
  • - Abandoned hook-style geometry in favor of a foot-like profile for comfort
  • - Added a convex roll-over shape to smooth load transfer during gait
  • - Rounded high-stress edges and increased wall thickness to improve final safety margin

Engineering details

  • - Design inputs: EU 26 shoe, 20 kg child, 800 N maximum load, 8-degree dorsiflexion target
  • - V1 survived 800 N compression but showed only about 2.7 mm displacement, making it too rigid
  • - V2 targeted about 14 mm displacement around 200 N for improved comfort
  • - Final Abaqus checks focused on Von Mises stress trends, mesh refinement, and PLA elastic limit comparison

Outcomes

  • - Produced an iterative CAD and simulation workflow for a printable pediatric prosthetic foot
  • - Validated that the first prototype met strength requirements but required compliance improvements
  • - Converged toward a final design with softened stress concentrations and improved flexibility

Gallery

Final prosthetic foot CAD render
Final prosthetic foot CAD render
CATIA V5 first prosthesis version
CATIA V5 first prosthesis version
Printed PLA first prototype
Printed PLA first prototype
Abaqus stress field for the second version
Abaqus stress field for the second version
Force-displacement comparison for design iteration
Force-displacement comparison for design iteration
Final Abaqus stress validation
Final Abaqus stress validation

What I would do next

  • - Print and mechanically test the final geometry
  • - Run fatigue and repeated gait-cycle testing
  • - Validate comfort with a more realistic socket and shoe interface