<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>3D printed plastic casts can be used for healing bone fractures. The main requirements for these cases are: they should be light, require little printing time, have good mechanical properties, and ensure proper skin ventilation. We present a density-based topology optimization algorithm for obtaining optimal cast shapes that fulfil these requirements. The algorithm uses a linear stress model and simplified boundary conditions to model the contact problems. The cast shapes were optimized against the influence of several sharp corners. The parametric studies showed that the mass of optimized casts was reduced by 20 %–25 % in comparison with original industrial casts, and the printing time is reduced by 1.4–1.7 h for the largest cast. A major model drawback is the use of 3D numerical volume to model the density distribution. The density distribution should be homogenized across the cast layer. The overhang problem should also be addressed. We also suggest that the cast producers collect more experimental data on the cast breakages for a better calibration of the numerical model.</p>
</abstract>

3D printed plastic casts can be used for healing bone fractures. The main requirements for these cases are: they should be light, require little printing time, have good mechanical properties, and ensure proper skin ventilation. We present a density-based topology optimization algorithm for obtaining optimal cast shapes that fulfil these requirements. The algorithm uses a linear stress model and simplified boundary conditions to model the contact problems. The cast shapes were optimized against the influence of several sharp corners. The parametric studies showed that the mass of optimized casts was reduced by 20 %–25 % in comparison with original industrial casts, and the printing time is reduced by 1.4–1.7 h for the largest cast. A major model drawback is the use of 3D numerical volume to model the density distribution. The density distribution should be homogenized across the cast layer. The overhang problem should also be addressed. We also suggest that the cast producers collect more experimental data on the cast breakages for a better calibration of the numerical model.

Density-Based Topological Optimization of 3D-Printed Casts for Fracture Treatment with Freefem Software

Latvian Journal of Physics and Technical Sciences

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

3D printed plastic casts can be used for healing bone fractures. The main requirements for these cases are: they should be light, require little printing time,...

Density-Based Topological Optimization of 3D-Printed Casts for Fracture Treatment with Freefem Software

Published Online: Dec 09, 2023

Page range: 124 - 141

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/lpts-2023-0050

Keywords
3D printing, medical casts for bone fractures, topology optimization

© 2023 K. Kokars et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Density-Based Topological Optimization of 3D-Printed Casts for Fracture Treatment with Freefem Software

Published Online: Dec 09, 2023

Page range: 124 - 141

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/lpts-2023-0050

Keywords3D printing, medical casts for bone fractures, topology optimization

© 2023 K. Kokars et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
3D printing, medical casts for bone fractures, topology optimization