multiple pieces that were welded together,” Pizzuti said.
Investment casting, a process where a wax or plastic pattern is used, helped produce the face masks.
ber-coated by another facility in any col- or the end-user needs, adding a distinc- tive look for a team looking to stand out. That, however, might be the second- ary benefit to the masks.
Cast stainless steel is ductile, and when not heat-treated it is still tough. To demonstrate that, Singer said he’s pulled the masks apart and pushed them together, bending and flexing them to show their toughness. They don’t snap and shatter and, most crucially, Pizzuti and Singer say they dissi- SDWH HQHUJ\ PRUH HIÀFLHQWO\ WKDQ WKH WUD- ditional welded mask, and this could lower concussions and make football safer. “As we started to talk about this proj- ect we theorized that one singular piece of steel would absorb energy better than
MELTING POINT
Singer said that as the energy goes through all of the individual elements of the mask, it will hit an intersection that slows it down and splits it. So by the time that energy gets to the hel- met, Singer said, its impact is less
because it’s taken more time to reach the head of the wearer.
During standard drop testing, the masks were dropped five times from a height of 12-15 ft. and, in Pizzuti’s words, they wanted to “beat the snot out of them.”
“On virtually every drop of the five drops, the investment cast mask scored anywhere from 25-30 percent lower on the severity index,” Pizzuti said. “Lower is better, and it means less energy is being transferred to the head and ulti- mately the brain of the wearer.” “Things have to be done differently and they have to embrace new tech- nologies and new methods of manu- facturing,” Singer said.
That sounds like something Pamela Pizzuti would say.
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Photo provided by the Architect of the Capitol.
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