Materials and Equipment:
Formlabs Form2 or Form3 SLA printer
Formlabs Flexible resin
Formlabs Durable resin
395 nm UV lights or a Formlabs cure station
Isopropanol bath or a Formlabs wash station with isopropanol
Filter material
- We recommend the mask base and clip components are used in combination with a filter material indicated for air filtration of .3 micron particulates that minimally impedes the exchange of air through the filter material.
- **Members of Mercer’s faculty are currently testing filter material alternatives. We will have data to report in the near future
Elastic straps (strap holes in STL file are ~.3in w x .1in h)
McMasterCarr item 8858T81, 3/32” diameter elastic cord
Silicone rubber tubing
**We found that scaling the mask and clip to 95% yields a mask that fits most peoples’ faces. The 95% size passed an N95 fit test in the configuration pictured. If you have larger diameter tubing or know the wearer(s) will have larger faces, a 100% scale version may work as well.
Our tested mask base component was printed on a Formlabs Form2 SLA printer using Flexible resin. We used .5 density for print supports with 0.7 mm touchpoint size and mini rafts to attach to the print head. All prints were washed in >95% isopropanol for 20 min in a Form2 wash station. Prints were cured for at least 30 min with 395 nm or 405 nm lights at 40C.
And https://support.formlabs.com/s/article/Form-Cure-Time-and-Temperature-Settings?language=en_US)
- If you are printing a 95% size mask and a 95% size clip, it will require ~75 ml of resin.
- With SLA resins it’s important to fully cure your product.
The mask clip was printed in Formlabs Durable resin. We used .5 density for print supports with 0.45 mm touchpoint size and mini rafts to attach to the print head. All prints were washed in >95% isopropanol for 20 min in a Form2 wash station. Prints were cured for at least 60 min with 395 nm or 405 nm lights at 40C.
The silicone rubber tubing was glued with Elmer’s Krazy glue just inside the face-edge of the mask.
Filter material was cut into circles to match the mask opening.
Once the superglue was completely dry, the mask could be worn.
The printed Flexible material can be cleaned with isopropanol, soap, and/or a bleach-based cleaning solution. Repeated exposures to isopropanol is expected to cause the material to become less flexible.
We have tested prints in other materials and with other printing methods…
A print in TPU semi-flex filament on an FDM printer w/30% infill also yielded a satisfactory mask. It also requires a silicone tubing gasket b/w the mask and the face.
The following people and groups contributed to the development, fabrication and testing of this mask:
Joanna Thomas, PhD, Mercer University School of Engineering
Sinjae Hyun, PhD, Mercer University School of Engineering
David Miller, PhD, Pittsburg State University
Jacob Sokolove, Mercer University School of Engineering
Sagar Patel, Mercer University School of Engineering
Brandon Matthews, Mercer University School of Engineering
Colin Petherbridge, Mercer University School of Engineering
Sarah Spalding, Mercer University School of Engineering
Gunhee Lee, Mercer University School of Engineering
Olivia Kight, Mercer University School of Engineering
Coliseum Medical Center, Macon , GA
Robbins Air Force Base SPARKS team
Jay Vizcarra, RAFB
Comments
NOVAprint
Thu, 2020-04-09 22:16
Permalink
Printing on typical FDM is not practical
The connectors for the straps on top creat negative space below the grate beneath it. It reqires alot of support material which would potentially confound the print with the starp holder on top. Can you put them on the side. That way you flip it over and print ona falt smooth surface cross the straps over top and keep a secure fit essnetially the same way.