Abstract
Due to the increase of the deformity of ankle joints by aging and diversification of foot wear, it is necessary to elucidate the influence of long-term load on the ankle joints. However, such studies have not been performed. We investigated how various standing postures exert the pressure on the three-dimensional ankle joints. The ankle joints were assumed to undergo a uniform distribution load and two kinds of triangular load. First, the growth criterion parameters of the strain energy density were determined by applying the finite element method to each 3D model of the normal ankle joints using the growth-strain method. Then, growth analysis of these models was performed using the previously obtained growth criterion parameters of the strain energy density. Finally, strain energy distributions and configuration changes of the ankle joints were illustrated and were compared. As a result, equalization of the stress and optimization of the shape were performed. However, in the case of all load conditions, most of the shape transformation of the ankle joints usually did not occur. Therefore, it was clarified that the various assumed standing posture had little affected on the deformity of the ankle joints.
