[Finite element analysis method and optimization of flexible ginger moxibustion based on Abaqus and Taguchi method]

Ginger moxibustion has the effect of regulating zang-fu organs and activating qi and blood circulation. When used, ginger paste is required to be close to human skin. Currently, the ginger box used clinically in the hospital can't meet the requirement of large area fitting human skin, and the efficacy of ginger moxibustion is significantly reduced. In this study, a flexible ginger paste box was proposed, which was composed of flexible components polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), spring and wire netting. The large flexibility of the structure made it fit well with human skin. Finite element method was used to study the fitting degree between ginger paste box and waist soft tissue. Finite element models of flexible ginger paste box and waist soft tissue were established based on Hypermesh and Abaqus software. The equivalent contact area between the flexible ginger paste box and waist was obtained by numerical simulation under different PDMS unilateral thickness, spring wire diameter, wire netting diameter and ginger paste layer thickness. The four parameters were taken as the influencing factors, and the equivalent contact area was taken as the optimization objective. The typical value analysis and variance analysis of S/N were performed by Taguchi method, and the results showed that among the four influencing factors, the wire netting diameter had the largest influence on equivalent contact area and its contribution rate reached 41.98%. The contribution rates of PDMS unilateral thickness, spring wire diameter and ginger paste layer thickness reached 36.48%, 13.97% and 6.50%, respectively. The optimized PDMS unilateral thickness, spring wire diameter, wire netting diameter and ginger paste layer thickness were 1.5, 0.4, 0.15, 35 mm, respectively, and the equivalent contact area was 95.60 cm ². The optimized flexible ginger paste box with great fitting performance can improve the effect of ginger moxibustion.