Research on dynamic characteristics of lower limb prosthetic knee joint based on the magnetorheological damper

DANG Kun; ZHEN Liang

doi:10.16578/j.issn.1004.2539.2026.01.008

Abstract：[Objective]To solve the problems of fixed damping force and poor pseudo-humanity of traditional lower limb prosthetic knee joints,a magnetorheological damper was designed to meet the vibration reduction requirements of the lower limb prosthetic knee joint.[Methods]Through theoretical calculation,the maximum damping forces required for the knee joint swing phase during flat walking and flat running were obtained,which were 179.6 N and 1 377 N respectively.In order to adapt to the motion state of the lower limb prosthesis,a vibration absorber was designed to meet the damping force required by the knee joint swing phase.Through numerical simulation and test research,the influence of external disturbed magnetic field and temperature rise effect on the dynamics characteristics of magnetorheological damper were analyzed.The test of influence of external disturbance magnetic field and temperature rise effect on the dynamics characteristic of the lower limb prosthetic knee joint was conducted by using the lower limb prosthetic knee joint simulator.[Results]The results show that the output damping force of the magnetorheological damper increases with the increasing magnetic flux density of the external disturbed magnetic field.Under the same conditions,the output damping force of the magnetorheological damper decreases with the rising temperature of the magnetorheological fluid.In the early stage of knee joint swing and the first half of its middle stage,with the increase of the magnetic flux density of external disturbed magnetic field,the hysteresis of knee joint movement increases,and the angle error increases.When the magnetic flux density of external disturbed magnetic field is 10,20 and 30 mT respectively,the maximum bending angle of the lower limb prosthetic knee joint is 59.0°,57.8° and 55.7° respectively,and the maximum angle error reaches 3.0°,6.8° and 11.9° respectively.As the rise of the temperature of the magnetorheological fluid,the hysteresis of knee joint movement increases,and the angle error increases.When the temperature of the damper rises to 30,35 and 40℃respectively,the maximum bending angle of the lower limb prosthetic knee joint is 57.1°,54.0° and 49.8° respectively,and the maximum angle error reaches 1.9°,5.1° and 9.8° respectively.These conclusions provide a basis for the design and optimization of the lower limb prosthetic knee joint based on the magnetorheological damper.