On Fabrication and Mechanical Testing of a New Finger Support

Abstract

Following the work done previously on design and simulation of a new finger support, this paper focuses on mechanical testing, methods of fabrication using a LaserJet 3D printer and also explores a better polymer which can be used for the support. The special composite finger support was designed for the first time to accommodate the patients with all sort of finger deformity. A new model is presented here, which is the optimum design suggested previously and is consisted of polymeric support with an inserted sheet of aluminum or carbon fiber. After presenting the results of modeling (including the calculated maximum stress and maximum deformation), the maximum stress values were compared with the yield strength values of the metals and it was noticed that the support does not undergo any plastic or permanent deformation. Furthermore, in order to validate the modeling results, the support was fabricated and mechanical tests were conducted. The steps and details of designing, simulation, mathematical confirmation using MATLAB (Mathworks©) package, fabrication, and mechanical testing are all presented. Overall the finger support is reliable and strong and can be brought to the market.