Development of Personal Protective Respirator Based on Additive Manufacturing Technologies in Fighting Against Pandemic

Abstract

Flexible manufacturing systems have been widely used especially in the field of medicine to develop personal protective types of equipment such as ventilator components or sample collection apparatuses except the face visors and masks/respirators during the fight against the pandemic. In this study, an N95 derivative respirator was designed based on the FDM technology and then compared with similar known mask models in literature in terms of manufacturing costs and functionality. Optimization was carried out on printing parameters to improve the speed of manufacturing. Finally, all components of the mask were assembled and prepared to be used for medical needs during the pandemic. The cost of the mask and filter components were reduced to 7 ₺ for 2 hours and 32 minutes for each mask. Moreover, the durability of each mask was increased three times more than known protective types of equipment to offer longer usage without any fractures caused by daily activities and to have improved airtightness. Besides, the mask was designed to have multi-layered filters with the ability of replaceable membranes according to the epidemic agent, and the sterilization procedures were explained. Thus, a more economical and healthier protective equipment was created compared to the known respirators in the literature.

Keywords

• Covid-19
• FDM
• Mask
• Respirator
• N95
• Pandemic

Supporting Institution

Kocaeli Üniversitesi, BAP Koordinasyon Birimi

Project Number

FHD-2020-2220

Thanks

This study was financially supported by BAP Project (FHD-2020-2220) of Kocaeli University.

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