Stealth aircraft technology used to develop mask production machines

China has employed the digital technology used in manufacturing J-10 fighter and J-20 stealth fighter to develop fully automatic mask production machines. The 24 machines planned to be built will have an estimated daily production capacity of 3 million masks.

The disposable surgical masks produced by the machines are of high quality and extremely effective in terms of protection.

The masks are composed of three layers of cloth. The outermost layer is made of non-woven cloth which inhibits bacteria, and the middle layer is made of melt-blown cloth, mainly used to isolate the virus.

The mask production machines operate automatically and can run continuously for 24 hours, with each machine capable of producing 100 masks per minute. One workers can supervise several machines at one time.

Compared with traditional mask machines, automatic machines have the advantages of being highly efficient and much more stable.

Currently, there are plans to produce 24 automatic mask machines, and four of them have been completed and delivered to mask production factories.

In order to ease the acute shortage of manpower in traditional mask factories, the design and development team from AVIC Manufacturing Technology Institute (MTI), made up of over 600 people, worked 24 hours a day and completed the drawing design of the mask production machines in three days.

"Digital design and production technology helped save time in the development of aircraft such as the J-10 and J-20, because it can be used for simulation before physical manufacturing, reducing unnecessary errors in the manufacturing process," said Li Zhiqiang, AVIC Chief Expert at MTI.

“People in the aviation industry are proud to be able to provide protective equipment to support medical workers and people throughout the country after the epidemic outbreak,” Li added.