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Quantifying the effect of a mask on expiratory flows

Philippe Bourrianne1, Nan Xue1, Janine Nunes1, Manouk Abkarian2, and Howard A. Stone1

  • 1Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
  • 2Centre de Biologie Structurale, CNRS UMR 5048, INSERM UMR 1054, University of Montpellier, 34090 Montpellier, France

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 6, 110511 – Published 23 November, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevFluids.6.110511

Abstract

Face masks are used widely to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases. While their main purpose is to filter pathogenic droplets, masks also represent a porous barrier to exhaled and inhaled air flow. In this study, we characterize the aerodynamic effect of the presence of a mask by tracking the air exhaled by a person through a mask, using both infrared imaging and particle image velocimetry performed on illuminated fog droplets surrounding a subject. We show how a mask confines the exhaled flows within tens of centimeters in front of a person breathing or speaking. In addition, we show that the tissue of common surgical face masks has a low permeability, which efficiently transforms the jetlike flows of exhalation produced during breathing or speaking into quasivertical buoyancy-driven flows. Therefore, wearing a mask offers a strong mitigation of direct transport of infectious material in addition to providing a filtering function. By comparing results on human subjects and model experiments, we propose a model to rationalize how a mask changes the air flow, and thus we provide quantitative insights that are useful for descriptions of disease transmission.

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Fluid Mechanics of Infectious Diseases Invited Papers

Physical Review Fluids publishes a collection of papers associated with invited talks presented at the mini-symposium on the Fluid Mechanics of Infectious Diseases at the 73nd Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics.

synopsis

Altering Airflows and Stopping Drops

Published 23 November, 2021

Two new studies provide insights into the efficacy of masks under different usage conditions, results that could help improve strategies for lowering transmission of COVID-19.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. Fluids 6, 110511– Published 23 November, 2021
  • Received 29 June 2021
  • Accepted 4 October 2021
Article part of CHORUS
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