A material study of insoles : Manufactured using different methods

Abstract: Aim: The aim of this study is to evaluate if additive manufacturing (AM) is an appropriate manufacturing method for insoles in comparison to vacuum forming (VF) and subtractive manufacturing (SM) in regards of material properties such as abrasion resistance. Background: Traditionally insoles are manufactured with either VF or SM. AM has been around for some decades but implementation into orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) business has not been accomplished yet. Therefore, the quality of the products produced with AM must be tested in comparison with traditional methods. Method: A comparison of samples for the mentioned manufacturing methods was done with the help of an abrasion testing machine with the standard ASTM G133. Two samples were produced from each manufacturing method and respectively tested for one and two hours. All the samples were weighed before and after the tests with the help of a four decimal scale. The difference in weight before and after the test and coefficient of friction was evaluated. The weight difference was analyzed to see how much material had been removed from the sample. The percentage of wear loss was calculated for each specific sample, both for one hour and two hours of testing. No statistical analysis could be made due to the limited amount of samples and testing time. Result: No statistically significant could be found for either wear loss or the coefficient of friction as mentioned above. Conclusion: A conclusion whether which material having the best abrasion resistance for respectively manufacturing method could not be drawn due to limited results. This study can be seen as a pilot study where the methodology can be used in further studies. Further research on AM needs to be conducted.