Award Date
May 2024
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Mechanical Engineering
First Committee Member
Mohamed Trabia
Second Committee Member
Brendan O'Toole
Third Committee Member
Janet Dufek
Fourth Committee Member
Woosoon Yim
Fifth Committee Member
Jeremy Cho
Sixth Committee Member
Szu-Ping Lee
Number of Pages
155
Abstract
The continuing need for hand prostheses has led to incredible developments in this area. However, due to the cost of the most sophisticated models, it is vital to develop simpler, low-cost, underactuated prostheses that can be produced rapidly. 3D printing is an important tool to achieve this goal. In particular, the 3D printed Flexy-Hand 2 has been one of the most common low-cost designs. A key feature of the Flexy-Hand 2 is its use of tendons and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) for joints that are strong and flexible. TPUs, however, lack a thorough understanding of their mechanical behavior, which makes it difficult to discern the forces needed to flex the prosthetic hand or to grip an object. The purpose of this research is to develop, and experimentally verify, a model that can predict the relationship between tendon forces and the flexion of the TPU joints of a prosthetic finger. First, a constitutive model for 3D printed TPU, NinjaFlex® was developed. This model accounts for the effect of filament extrusion temperature and material deposition orientations. Next, flexural tests of cantilevered specimens representing the finger joints were conducted to study the bending behavior of the TPU under realistic conditions to simulate finger flexion. Lastly, the results of these two tasks were incorporated in a quasi-static model relating finger flexion to tendon tension inducing it. This model was verified experimentally.
Keywords
3D Printing; Finite Element Analysis; Modeling; Polymer; Prostheses
Disciplines
Mechanical Engineering
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Repository Citation
Gallup, Lucas, "Predicting the Response of an Underactuated, 3D Printed Prosthetic Hand" (2024). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 4993.
https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/4993
Rights
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