Finite-element simulation of functional knee sleeves based on three-dimensional modeling of the knee joint

Abstract

Knee sleeves are one of the most satisfying and widely used items of protective equipment for sports enthusiasts. Achieving an effective balance between functionality and comfort is a key factor in the design of knee sleeves. However, there are still some problems with the knee protection products currently on the market, such as poor thermal and moisture comfort, difficulty in putting on and taking off, slippage during doing sports, and the lack of a timely and effective feedback mechanism that cannot guide the user to actively adjust their movement posture to avoid sports injuries. To improve the function and pressure comfort of the human body after wearing knee sleeves, this study took the knee joint as the research object, established a three-dimensional knee joint model through computed tomography (CT) scanning and Mimics software, and then built a finite-element model under the contact state between the human body and pressure clothing on this basis. Moreover, ABAQUS was used for finite-element simulation to obtain the pressure and displacement distribution of knee joints after wearing knee sleeves. In order to further investigate the stress state and deformation trend of knee joint after wearing knee sleeves, each section of the human body at the knee joint was divided into four regions according to the angle, and the functional relationship between pressure and displacement was obtained by curve fitting. This study has significance for the investigation of the pressure comfort threshold of knee sleeves and the optimization of the design of functional knee sleeves.