Abstract
Additive manufacturing technologies are dynamically developing, strongly affecting almost all fields of industry and medicine. The appearance of electrically conductive polymers has had a great impact on the prototyping process of different electrical components in the case of upper limb prosthetic development. The widely used FFF 3D printing technology mainly uses PLA (polylactic acid) and ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) based composites, and despite their presence in the field, a detailed, critical characterization and comparison of them has not been performed yet. Our aim was to characterize two PLA and ABS based carbon composites in terms of electrical and mechanical behavior, and extend the observations with a structural and signal transfer analysis. The measurements were carried out by changing the different printing parameters, including layer resolution, printing orientation and infill density. To determine the mechanical properties, static and dynamic tests were conducted. The electrical characterization was done by measuring the resistance and signal transfer characteristics. Scanning electron microscopy was used for the structural analysis. The results proved that the printing parameters had a significant effect on the mechanical and electrical characteristics of both materials. As a major novelty, it was concluded that the ABS carbon composite has more favorable behavior in the case of additive manufacturing of electrical components of upper limb prosthetics, and they can be used as moving, rotating parts as well.
Highlights
Limb loss affects more than 3–5 million people worldwide [1]
The results of the electrical measurements show that ESD-PLA and ESD-ABS have significantly different electric characteristics. They demonstrate that the printing orientation, infill density and layer height are strongly correlated with the electrical resistance of the printed objects (Figure 2)
To obtain more detailed results on the effect of the layer height and temperature on the electrical resistance, the measurements were performed with seven different layer resolutions
Summary
Limb loss affects more than 3–5 million people worldwide [1]. It is estimated that more than3.5 million people will have this condition by 2050, only in the United States [2]. Limb loss affects more than 3–5 million people worldwide [1]. Upper limb loss represents a smaller percentage among this condition [3], but highly impacts the quality of living and functionality of the patients, and devices must be continuously developed to reduce. The most common technology is desktop FFF or FDM 3D printing worldwide. In upper limb prosthetic development, FFF 3D printers are frequently used [10,11]. They can be used for printing sockets or other mechanical parts [10,11], but different electrical components can be manufactured by 3D printing. Relevant research can be found in reference to the characterization of FFF printed resistors [14], in which conductive PLA resistance tests were made originating from the X, Y and
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
