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Prosthetic-arm Development using 3D-printing

Technical Report · June 2019

DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.9994184

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Aditya Garg
The Doon School, Dehradun
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9 Certificate from Dayalbagh Educational institute

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 Table of Contents
1 ABSTRACT......................................................................................... 2

2 DECLARATION ................................................................................ 3

3 3D PRINTING AND RESEARCH AT DEI ..................................... 4

3.1 ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING INTRODUCTION ........................................... 4

3.2 AT DAYALBAGH ............................................................................................. 5
3.3 RESEARCH ....................................................................................................... 6
3.4 ON DIFFERENT MATERIALS:.......................................................................... 7
3.5 ON VARYING ORIENTATION ......................................................................... 7

4 INITIAL LEARNINGS ..................................................................... 7

5 MEETING JAI PRAKASH ................................................................ 9

6 PROCESS .......................................................................................... 10

6.1 DESIGNING ...................................................................................................10

6.2 PRINTING.......................................................................................................12
6.3 ASSEMBLING AND THERMOFORMING: ......................................................12
6.4 FITTING. ........................................................................................................14
6.5 PRECAUTIONS AND EXERCISE ....................................................................14

7 CONCLUSION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................... 14

8 REFERENCES. ................................................................................ 14

9 CERTIFICATE FROM DAYALBAGH EDUCATIONAL

INSTITUTE ............................................................................................ 15

10 CERTIFICATES FROM E-NABLE COMMUNITY ...................... 16

1
1 Abstract
This summer, after visiting various museums in Japan as part of my Sakura High School
Science Exchange Program 2019 and watching 3D specimens being manufactured
right in front of me, I was completely struck. It was fascinating to watch how simple
2ft by 2ft machines were capable of replacing several assembly lines which would
otherwise be required to manufacture the same complex shapes.

At the same time, as I got back to India, I found out that a local institute (Dayalbagh
Educational Institute Agra) was hosting a camp for their engineering students wanting
to learn 3d printing. As I very dearly wanted to attend the camp, it took me a few
persuasion sessions to convince Dr. A.K. Sharma, HOD Electrical Engineering
Department, to allow a 12 grader to attend it. However, as I started learning, I soon
mingled with all the undergrad students there. I stated to explore basics shapes on
software like Solid works and AutoCAD. Furthermore, I was able to build the designs
to life by using their 3D printer called XYZprinting Da Vinci Jr 1.0 Pro.

Although the initial realizations of my designs failed (due to faulty slicing ,setting and
lack of support structures), I thoroughly enjoyed the process. I started setting myself
challenges for designing, printing and assembling projects like working 3D printing
prosthetic arms. 2 weeks later, a fully working prosthetic arm (with moving fingers that
could grip an object) that could hopefully ease the life of a wrist amputee was brought
to life.

In the following report, I would write about my experience with 3d printing technology
so far. I would start with a brief introduction to additive manufacturing and my journey
to finally building a 3D prosthetic arm.

P.S – I got recognition from the international E-nable community (a 3D

prosthetics community) for being a certified E-nable volunteer for fabricating
and assembling 3D prosthetic arms. The official badges earned by me can be
viewed at:

https://api.badgr.io/public/collections/161472df423408ccdbbe7632a02d9f6e

2
2 Declaration

I, undersigned Aditya Garg of The Doon School, Dehradun (India) studying in 12th
Grade, declare that the following report is based on my own work carried out during a
3-week 3D printing course attended by me at Dayalbagh Educational Institute Agra
under the supervision of Dr. A.K. Saxena. (Head of Department of Electronics)

I further certify that I have worked under Mr. Sunil Agarwal, managing trustee at the
Hardayal Foundation Trust, whose expertise and guidance in the field of prosthetic
manufacturing, helped me extend support to Jay Prakash (a hand amputee patient).

Finally, I declare that the report is completely original and has been fully done by
myself. No part of the report is plagiarized. Whenever I have used other sources to
explain the process and techniques, I have given due credit to them in the text of the
report. (Footnotes)

[Signature]

3
3 3D Printing and Research at DEI
3.1 Additive manufacturing Introduction
Additive manufacturing (AM), is the process through which one can synthesize a three-
dimensional object of almost any geometry through a machine called the 3D printer. In the
3D printer, successive layers of material are added (additive) onto the previous layers under
computer control following the instruction of digital model data or AMF files. The whole
process of 3D printing consists of the following four stages:

STAGES

1. Designing

2. Slicing

3. Printing

4. Assembly

Using three-dimensional CAD (computer aided design), a software slices a complex shape into
a series of simple two-and-a-half-dimension (2-dimensional information plus height) layer
instructions.1 Several forms of additive manufacturing techniques have been built over the
years. Differences between different techniques are usually differences in the way that material
is deposited.2 The most common one of them, also the one that I learned at DEI, is called as
fused deposition modelling (FDM). In this technique, a thermoplastic material or a metallic
wire is unwounded rapidly from a coil and is supplied to a hot extruder which can turn the
flow of material on and off.3 A thermoplastic is a polymer that becomes moldable at a specific

1
Masood, S.h. “Advances in Fused Deposition Modeling.” Comprehensive Materials Processing,
2014, pp. 69–91., doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-096532-1.01002-5.
2
Jasveer, Shiwpursad, and Xue Jianbin. “Comparison of Different Types of 3D Printing
Technologies.” International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications (IJSRP), vol.
8, no. 4, 2018, doi:10.29322/ijsrp.8.4.2018.p7602.

3
Ali´c, Amina. “Physics of 3D Printing.” Edited by Dr. Rok Zitko, University of Ljubljana,
Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, 18 Jan. 2017, mafija.fmf.uni-
lj.si/seminar/files/2016_2017/Amina_Alic_seminar_1b.pdf.

4
temperature. The heated nozzle fed with thermoplastic, then, melts and extrudes the material
while also moving in the X, Y and Z directions by a digital controlled mechanism. A simplified
view of this technique can be seen in the illustration below.

Figure 1: Diagrammatic representation of a Fused Filament Fabrication process.

(Hand-drawn)4

3.2 At Dayalbagh
At Dayalbagh Educational Institute, the filament material chosen by us during the course of
study was Polylactic acid (PLA), a biodegradable plastic. The diameter of the filament used
was 1.75mm. The typical properties of PLA materials fabricated by FDM are shown in the
table below.

Table 1: Typical mechanical properties of FDM fabricated PLA structures. [5-6]

Properties PLA
Tensile strength (Mpa) 15.50 - 72.20

4
Jerez-Mesa, R., et al. “Finite Element Analysis of the Thermal Behavior of a RepRap 3D Printer
Liquefier.” Mechatronics, vol. 36, 2016, pp. 119–126.,
doi:10.1016/j.mechatronics.2016.04.007.
5
Rankouhi, Behzad, et al. “Failure Analysis and Mechanical Characterization of 3D Printed ABS
With Respect to Layer Thickness and Orientation.” Journal of Failure Analysis and
Prevention, vol. 16, no. 3, 2016, pp. 467–481., doi:10.1007/s11668-016-0113-2.
6
Tymrak, B.m., et al. “Mechanical Properties of Components Fabricated with Open-Source 3-D
Printers under Realistic Environmental Conditions.” Materials & Design, vol. 58, 2014, pp.
242–246., doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2014.02.038.

5
 Tensile modulus (GPA) 2.02 - 3.55
Elongation at break 0.50 - 9.20
Flexural strength (Mpa) 52.00 - 115.10
Flexural modulus (Gpa) 2.39 - 4.93

The samples were manufactured using a low-cost 3D printer called XYZ Da Vinci Jr 1.0 Pro,
which can be seen in the image below. The nozzle diameter of the printer was 0.4mm. The
printer had a dedicated software called XYZware and XYZprint for slicing STL files and
generating G-code7 files from designs made in CAD software. For creating the geometry of
the designs, AutoCAD and Solid works were used.

Figure 2: XYZprinting Da Vinci Jr. 1.0 Pro (Printer used by me)

3.3 Research
The quality of the 3D printed parts depends upon a large number of parameters. At Dayalbagh,
I also studied how different parameters can have an influence over the tensile, flexural, and
impact strength of a given specimen. The following six process parameters were looked into
by me:

• Material: Different PLA compositions like Copper PLA, Carbon Fiber PLA were studied.
• Orientation: This refers to the inclination of the part with reference with to X, Y, and Z axis of the build
plate.
• Layer thickness: This depends mainly upon the type of the nozzle being used.
• Raster angle: The direction of the raster relative to the build plate.

7
G-code is the language that humans use to tell a machine to do something. In 3D printing,
this text contains the commands for the 3D printer to move its parts in X, Y, and Z
direction to get the desired design. It also contains information like extruder movement
speed, layer height etc.

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3.4 On different materials:

Figure 3: Specimens of three different materials printed by me at Dayalbagh

Educational Institute; (From Top to Bottom: Carbon fiber, Plastic, and Copper,)
Three different materials namely Carbon fiber, PLA plastic, and Copper were 3D printed and
tested for different properties.

3.5 On varying orientation

The anisotropic behavior of 3D printed parts (due to layer-by-layer manufacturing) was
studied. In general, the results were verified and were found compliable with J.M. Chacon8.
Upright orientation of the specimens gives the least amount of mechanical properties, while,
flat orientation shows the highest strength and stiffness. Also, mechanical properties increase
with an increase in layer height.

4 Initial Learnings
After researching and studying on various process parameters of 3D printed specimens, I
decided to design and create my own 3D product. My first fully printed part on the 3D printer
was a fidget spinner. I took help from my instructor Mr. Ajay Kant, and took some inspiration
from YouTube videos9 to come up fully with the design. The Design was made by me in a
software called Solid Works. The Screen shot below shows how my design looked in Solid
Works.

8
Chacón, J.m., et al. “Additive Manufacturing of PLA Structures Using Fused Deposition
Modelling: Effect of Process Parameters on Mechanical Properties and Their Optimal
Selection.” Materials & Design, vol. 124, 2017, pp. 143–157.,
doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2017.03.065.

9
SolidWorks Tutorial, director. YouTube. YouTube, YouTube, 11 June 2017,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm0FG_M8fuA.

7
 Figure 4: Screenshot of my design (halfway) of a fidget spinner in Solid Works.

After the fidget spinner was fully designed, I downloaded the .STL file to be put inside the
XYZ slicing software for the G-code. File. In the XYZ slicing software, I modified the
parameters like infill pattern, layer height, extruder speed etc. for desired properties. The fidget
spinner, obviously, was printed in different parts that had to assembled once printed.

Once, slicing was done, I put the G-code file into the 3D printer and printed my product. A
few stages of my prints are also shown in images below.

Figure 5: Fidget Spinner on XYZ slicing software.

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 Figure 6: Fidget Spinner During and After being printed on XYZ printing.

As you can quite clearly see in the left picture of Figure 7, that the bottom face of my fidget
spinner was printed messy. It was only after it was printed that I realized that the filament was
not able to stick to the existing layers due to the design of the product. The solution to this
problem was supports structures. Also, I realized that the Z-offset10 was a little too much,
which was also a reason was bad adhesion of my filament on the print-bed. Thus, I had to
print the faulty parts again and discard the waste ones. On the bright side, this was a good
experience as I was able to see and learn what unexpected errors could occur while the 3D
object design was being actualized on the printer.

5 Meeting Jai Prakash

One day while going back to home I saw a vegetable seller on the road. He was a wrist amputee
and I felt sorry looking at him. Recently, I had talked to my mentor at DEI about 3D printed
prosthetics for amputees, and I knew that there was a way to fabricate one for him. I learnt
that he had met with a machine accident 8 years back, while working in a factory. Since then,
he had been carrying out all his tasks with his left hand. His story moved me, and I became
determined to help him out.

10
“ Z offset is the distance between the hot end and the Z home position on 3D printers.”
Definition taken from: “Z Offset (3D Printing) – How to Adjust It.” All3DP, 28 Apr. 2019,
all3dp.com/2/z-offset-3d-printing-how-to-adjust-it/.

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6 Process
6.1 Designing
In order to learn more about prosthetic, I visited Mrs. Neeru Agarwal who headed the
institution Hardayal Foundation that manufacture free leg prosthetics to poor leg amputees
every month. I had been a regular visitor of their camps. I realized that Jai Prakash’s problem
could be solved with prosthetic arm that was 3D printed. Soon, I also realized, that the
prosthetic arm, in order to have any real utility to the man, had to have moving fingers. I
looked on the internet and realized that it was not quite practical for me to design the entire
prosthetic from scratch. In fact, there was an institution “Enabling the future” that specialized
in just designing such low-cost prosthetic that could be 3D printed. In the beginning, it looked
easy, but it was not.

Initially, I thought I could just borrow, print and assemble their design. However, as I initiated,
I realized there was a lot more to it. I had to modify the design in a way that it could fit the
arm amputee properly. I also had to find materials such as nice and strong threads, bands,
M6 Screws and other material that was essential in the assembly of the prosthetic arm.
Furthermore, I had to slice the design in a way such that it could be printed on the printer that
I had at the university. Lastly, one of the parts (the arm), was much bigger than the print
bed available to me at the university. This is was the biggest challenge as there was no other
alternative. After much brainstorming and consultation on online forums, I finally decided to
print the arm part in two parts and weld them together with a soldering iron after they were
individually printed.

Figure 5: I had to start by taking the measurements of the patient. I took the
following measurement of his non-affected arm, as shown in the following image.
(A,B,C)11

11
Thingiverse.com. “The UnLimbited Arm v2.1 - Alfie Edition by Team_UnLimbited.”
Thingiverse, www.thingiverse.com/thing:1672381.

10
 Figure 8: Me taking measurement of my patient
After the measurements were taken, I modified and generated the new files using Thing
inverse customizer and Solid works. Post that, I put those files into XYZ slicing software to
edit the desired process parameters and generate the G-code file.

The following table shows the parameters that I used to print the arm.

Parameter Value Unit

Nozzle Temperature 210 Degree Celcius
Infill density 35% density
Infill type Honeycomb pattern
Layer Height 0.2 mm
First Layer Height 0.35 mm
Non-printing moving speed 120 mm/s

Solid infill speed 65 mm/s

First layer speed 10 mm/s
Retraction speed 30 mm/s
Retraction length 0.2 mm
Enable Supports Yes -
Enable Raft Yes -
Table 2: Value of different parameters used in XYZprinting (slicing software)

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6.2 Printing
The entire 3d prosthetic arm was printed in seven different parts:

S No. Parts Parts

1. Fingers 5. Jig

2. Fore-arm 6. Cuff

3. Phalanx 7. Pins

4. Palm

After all these parts were printed, they were assembled with the use of other parts required
like thread, screws etc.

Figure 6: Individual parts being printed.

6.3 Assembling and thermoforming12:

Unlike most 3D manufacturing process, the process of building a prosthetic arm was not
complete after printing. The printed parts had to be shaped by a heating process called
thermoforming. The parts were submerged into hot boiling water and bent and molded,

12
“thermoforming is a plastic molding technique in which plastic is heated and shaped into usable
forms”

“What Is Thermoforming?” TranPak, www.tranpak.com/tools/faq/what-is-thermoforming/.

12
according to the measurements, before they cooled down. An example of thermoforming is
shown below.

Figure 7: Elbow Support BEFORE Figure 8: Elbow Support AFTER

thermoforming. thermoforming.

Finally, all individual parts were assembled. This was done using strong durable fishing thread,
M6 bolts etc.

Figure 9: Final Assembled Prosthetic Arm. (With moving fingers)13

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All the pictures are put with permission of the people in it.

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6.4 Fitting.
The prosthetic was fitted with velcro-straps, such that it could be worn by the patient. After
initial fit-testing, the prosthetic arm was found a bit loose to the hand of the patient. It had to
go again the entire process of dismantling, re-thermoforming, till it fitted the patient
satisfactorily.

6.5 Precautions and exercise

The patient was immediately able to grip simple objects. In a minor modification to the design,
finger-grips were added to the prosthetic to enhance the finger grip-ability. The patient was
required to practice using the prosthetic, in accordance to the instructions given, so as to
become accustomed to the hand. Furthermore, the patient was told not to get the prosthetic
close to too much heat (should avoid doing tasks like cooking), since the prosthetic was made
of PLA, and could softens under heat exposure. Finally, I gave the patient some spare parts
printed separately by me to quick-fix the prosthetic in case of minor damages.

7 Conclusion and Acknowledgement

The entire process was both extremely enrichening and fulfilling. While learning about 3D
printing techniques, research, new-developments was fun, bringing the technology to life to
provide support to people was extremely rewarding. I would never be able to forget the
excitement of my patient when he first saw the assembled prosthetic, and his happiness as he
was able to grip the objects that he had once thought impossible.

It would have been truly impossible for me to build the entire project by myself. Firstly, I
would like to thank my parents for supporting me at every step of the journey, making sure
that all the necessary resources were at my disposal. Secondly, I would like to thank A.K
Saxena Sir, Rahul Sir, and Ajay Kant Sir, (faculty at DEI), for their constant mentorship. I am
sure none of this would have been possible without the technical knowledge of 3D printed
that they imparted. Finally, I would like to thank Mrs. Neeru Agarwal, and Mr. Sunil Agarwal,
managing trustee of Hardayal Foundation Trust, for motivating me to stretch my limits to
make sure that the hand-prosthetic was as usable and practical as possible. Thank you.

8 References.
References are provided in footnotes wherever necessary. A video of the patient using the
prosthetic-arm: https://bit.ly/2n3wyP5

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10 Certificates from e-NABLE community
Issued by the e-Nable Community for verified 3D prosthetic Fabrication and Assembly as per
their guidelines

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