Deposition of non-spherical microparticles in the human upper respiratory tract

We investigated the deposition pattern of microparticles with different particle diameters, shape factors, and initial flow conditions in a realistic human upper respiratory tract model. We identified a close relationship between the deposition fraction and the particle shape factor. The deposition fraction of the particles decreased sharply with increasing particle shape factor because of the decreasing drag force. We also found that the deposition varied at different positions in the upper respiratory tract. At low shape factors, the highest fraction of particles deposited at the mouth and pharynx. However, with increasing shape factor, the deposition fraction in the trachea and lungs increased. Moreover, for a given shape factor, larger particles deposited at the mouth and pharynx, which indicates that the deposition fraction of microparticles in the human upper respiratory tract is affected first and foremost by particle inertia as well as by the drag force.     

Effects of cartilaginous rings on airflow and particle transport through simplified and realistic models of human upper respiratory tracts

In the present study, computational fluid dynamics （CFD） is used to investigate inspiratory and expiratory airflow characteristics in the human upper respiratory tract for the purpose of identifying the probable locations of particle deposition and the wall injury. Computed tomography （CT） scan data was used to reconstruct a three dimensional respiratory tract from trachea to first generation bronchi. To compare, a simplified model of respiratory tract based on Weibel was also used in the study. The steady state results are obtained for an airflow rate of 45 L/min, corresponding to the heavy breathing condition. The velocity distribution, wall shear stress, static pressure and particle deposition are compared for inspiratory flows in simplified and realistic models and expiratory flows in realistic model only. The results show that the location of cartilaginous rings is susceptible to wall injury and local particle deposition.     

Unsteady flow in the nasal cavity with high flow therapy measured by stereoscopic PIV

Nasal high flow (NHF) cannulae are used to deliver heated and humidified air to patients at steady flows ranging from 5 to 50 l/min. In this study, the flow velocities in the nasal cavity across the complete respiratory cycle during natural breathing and with NHF has been mapped in vitro using time-resolved stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV). An anatomically accurate silicone resin model of a complete human nasal cavity was constructed using CT scan data and rapid prototyping. Physiological breathing waveforms were reproduced in vitro using Reynolds and Womersley number matching and a piston pump driven by a ball screw and stepper motor. The flow pattern in the nasal cavity with NHF was found to differ significantly from natural breathing. Velocities of 2.4 and 3.3 ms⁻¹ occurred in the nasal valve during natural breathing at peak expiration and inspiration, respectively; however, on expiration, the maximum velocity of 3.8 ms⁻¹ occurred in the nasopharynx. At a cannula flow rate of 30 l/min, maximal velocities of 13.6 and 16.5 ms⁻¹ at peak expiration and inspiration, respectively, were both located in the cannula jet within the nasal valve. Results are presented that suggest the quasi-steady flow assumption is invalid in the nasal cavity during natural breathing; however, it was valid with NHF. Cannula flow has been found to continuously flush the nasopharyngeal dead space, which may enhance carbon dioxide removal and increase oxygen fraction.     

Characteristics of turbulent particle transport in human airways under steady and cyclic flows

Motion of monodispersed aerosol particles suspended in air flow has been studied on realistic transparent model of human airways using Phase Doppler Particle Analyser (P/DPA). Time-resolved velocity data for particles in size range 1–8 μm were processed using Fuzzy Slotting Technique to estimate the power spectral density (PSD) of velocity fluctuations. The optimum processing setup for our data was found and recommendations for future experiments to improve PSD quality were suggested. Typical PSD plots at mainstream positions of the trachea and the upper bronchi are documented and differences among (1) steady-flow regimes and equivalent cyclic breathing regimes, (2) inspiration and expiration breathing phase and (3) behaviour of particles of different sizes are described in several positions of the airway model. Systematically higher level of velocity fluctuations in the upper part of the frequency range (30–500 Hz) was found for cyclic flows in comparison with corresponding steady flows. Expiratory flows in both the steady and cyclic cases produce more high-frequency fluctuations compared to inspiratory flows. Negligible differences were found for flow of particles in the inspected size range 1–8 μm at frequencies below 500 Hz. This finding was explained by Stokes number analysis. Implied match of the air and particle flows thereby indicates turbulent diffusion as important deposition mechanism and confirms the capability to use the P/DPA data as the air flow velocity estimate.     

Numerical analysis of respiratory flow patterns within human upper airway

A computational fluid dynamics （CFD） approach is used to study the respiratory airflow dynamics within a human upper airway. The airway model which consists of the airway from nasal cavity, pharynx, larynx and trachea to triple bifurcation is built based on the CT images of a healthy volunteer and the Weibel model. The flow character- istics of the whole upper airway are quantitatively described at any time level of respiratory cycle. Simulation results of respiratory flow show good agreement with the clinical mea- sures, experimental and computational results in the litera- ture. The air mainly passes through the floor of the nasal cavity in the common, middle and inferior nasal meatus. The higher airway resistance and wall shear stresses are distrib- uted on the posterior nasal valve. Although the airways of pharynx, larynx and bronchi experience low shear stresses, it is notable that relatively high shear stresses are distrib- uted on the wall of epiglottis and bronchial bifurcations. Besides, two-dimensional fluid-structure interaction models of normal and abnormal airways are built to discuss the flow-induced deformation in various anatomy models. The result shows that the wall deformation in normal airway is relatively small.     

Time resolved analysis of steady and oscillating flow in the upper human airways

In this experimental study a thorough analysis of the steady and unsteady flow field in a realistic transparent silicone lung model of the first bifurcation of the upper human airways will be presented. To determine the temporal evolution of the flow time-resolved particle-image velocimetry recordings were performed for a Womersley number range 3.3 ≤ α ≤ 5.8 and Reynolds numbers of Re _D = 1,050, 1,400, and 2,100. The results evidence a highly three-dimensional and asymmetric character of the velocity field in the upper human airways, in which the influence of the asymmetric geometry of the realistic lung model plays a significant role for the development of the flow field in the respiratory system. At steady inspiration, the flow shows independent of the Reynolds number a large zone with embedded counter-rotating vortices in the left bronchia ensuring a continuous streamwise transport into the lung. At unsteady flow the critical Reynolds number, which describes the onset of vortices in the first bifurcation, is increased at higher Womersley number and decreased at higher Reynolds number. At expiration the unsteady and steady flows are almost alike.     

Stereoscopic PIV measurements of flow in the nasal cavity with high flow therapy

Knowledge of the airflow characteristics within the nasal cavity with nasal high flow (NHF) therapy and during unassisted breathing is essential to understand the treatment’s efficacy. The distribution and velocity of the airflow in the nasal cavity with and without NHF cannula flow has been investigated using stereoscopic particle image velocimetry at steady peak expiration and inspiration. In vivo breathing flows were measured and dimensionally scaled to reproduce physiological conditions in vitro. A scaled model of the complete nasal cavity was constructed in transparent silicone and airflow simulated with an aqueous glycerine solution. NHF modifies nasal cavity flow patterns significantly, altering the proportion of inspiration and expiration through each passageway and producing jets with in vivo velocities up to 17.0 ms⁻¹ for 30 l/min cannula flow. Velocity magnitudes differed appreciably between the left and right sides of the nasal cavity. The importance of using a three-component measurement technique when investigating nasal flows has been highlighted.     

流固耦合作用下真实人体上呼吸道呼吸流涡结构演化的数值仿真

通过构建真实人体上呼吸道三维规范模型,运用大涡模拟数值方法,对考虑流固耦合作用的低强度循环呼吸模式下人体上呼吸道内的呼吸流进行了数值仿真,研究分析了人体口喉模型及气管支气管内的气流涡结构及其演化过程。结果表明,循环吸气过程中,气流在口腔中部以及舌苔上部形成多个涡管,在声门部位形成强烈的射流,在气管前壁出现马蹄涡,到气管中部大尺度涡结构逐步消失,支气管中只剩下一系列小尺度涡结构;循环呼气过程中,气流在气管底部产生较为复杂的涡结构,随着气流在气管内的融合,涡强度逐步减弱,在咽喉后壁形成拱状涡,气流进入口腔后,涡结构破裂,涡量扩散,没有较大的涡结构产生。     

循环呼吸模式口喉模型内气流运动特性数值模拟

应用计算流体动力学方法对人体在循环呼吸模式下口喉模型内的气流运动特性进行数值模拟,分析了循环呼吸模式下口喉模型内的气流组织形式以及气流运动对呼吸道壁面以及气溶胶运动沉积的影响. 吸气阶段,在咽部外壁和声门下游气管上部外壁气流发生分离,形成分离区. 呼气阶段,分别在咽部外壁和喉部外壁形成高速区. 循环呼吸模式下,咽部、喉部与气管内的高轴向速度区和二次涡流运动均是在呼吸过程中间歇性的产生,形成的高剪应力区也是间歇性的. 壁面受到的剪应力周期性地改变方向,引起壁面劳损和组织损伤的可能性增大,同时在这些部位容易造成气溶胶的沉积.      

Rolling/sliding of a particle on a flat wall in a linear shear flow at finite Re

Recently Lee and Balachandar proposed analytically-based expressions for drag and lift coefficients for a spherical particle moving on a flat wall in a linear shear flow at finite Reynolds number. In order to evaluate the accuracy of these expressions, we have conducted direct numerical simulations of a rolling particle for shear Reynolds number up to 100. We assume that the particle rolls on a horizontal flat wall with a small gap separating the particle from the wall (L = 0.505) and thus avoiding the logarithmic singularity. The influence of the shear Reynolds number and the translational velocity of the particle on the hydrodynamic forces of the particle was investigated under both transient and the final drag-free and torque-free steady state. It is observed that the quasi-steady drag and lift expressions of Lee and Balachandar provide good approximation for the terminal state of the particle motion ranging from perfect sliding to perfect rolling. With regards to transient particle motion in a wall-bounded shear flow it is observed that the above validated quasi-steady drag and lift forces must be supplemented with appropriate wall-corrected added-mass and history forces in order to accurately predict the time-dependent approach to the terminal steady state. Quantitative comparison with the actual particle motion computed in the numerical simulations shows that the theoretical models quite effective in predicting rolling/sliding motion of a particle in a wall-bounded shear flow at moderate Re.     

Investigation of the flow physics in the human pharynx/larynx region

This experimental study was carried out to investigate the flow field in the human extra-thoracic airway using the particle image velocimetry technique. The purpose of this study is to understand the physics of the turbulent flow in the pharynx/larynx region. The flow rate was 9?l/min, and the corresponding Reynolds number, based on the inlet condition, was 670. Two thousand images were acquired at each location at a framing rate of 2?Hz. The mean turbulence intensity, turbulent kinetic energy and Reynolds stress fields were calculated. Moreover, the proper orthogonal decomposition method and quadrant analysis were also used for investigating the flow in the pharynx/larynx region. The results showed that the flow is strongly three dimensional and is characterised by re-circulation, jet-like and sink-like mean flows. The pharynx/larynx region is characterised by bursting events (e.g. ejection, sweep and interaction events) particularly in the epiglottal region. These events appear to be responsible for deforming and/or tearing apart the vortical structures. In addition, the major contribution to the Reynolds shear stress comes from the events that mainly burst with or against the flow direction which, in some cases, exceeded 100?% of the inlet velocity.     

Particle behavior in a turbulent pipe flow with a flat bed

Particle behavior in a turbulent flow in a circular pipe with a bed height h = 0.5R is studied at Re_b = 40,000 and for two sizes of particles (5 μm and 50 μm) using large eddy simulation, one-way coupled with a Lagrangian particle tracking technique. Turbulent secondary flows are found within the pipe, with the curved upper wall affecting the secondary flow formation giving rise to a pair of large upper vortices above two smaller vortices close to the pipe floor. The behavior of the two sizes of particle is found to be quite different. The 50 μm particles deposit forming irregular elongated particle streaks close to the pipe floor, particularly at the center of the flow and the pipe corners due to the impact of the secondary flows. The deposition and resuspension rate of the 5 μm particles is high near the center of the floor and at the pipe corners, while values for the 50 μm particles are greatest near the corners. Near the curved upper wall of the pipe, the deposition rate of the 5 μm particles increases in moving from the wall center to the corners, and is greater than that for the larger particles due to the effects of the secondary flow. The maximum resuspension rate of the smaller particles occurs above the pipe corners, with the 50 μm particles showing their highest resuspension rate above and at the corners of the pipe.     

人体上呼吸道内气流运动特性的数值模拟分析

运用计算流体动力学(CFD)方法对人体上呼吸道内的气流运动特性进行了数值模拟,通过PIV实验对数值模拟结果进行了验证。研究结果表明:气流在咽部外壁、气管外壁发生分离现象,气流在气管内壁形成局部高速区,支气管内的气流在分叉处发生分离,靠近支气管内壁速度较高,并且在支气管边界层的外缘速度达到最大值。气管和支气管内的二次涡流运动和轴向速度的分布使得气管支气管内壁受到的剪应力较大,内壁粘膜更容易受到损伤。     

Numerical analysis of transient laminar forced convection of nanofluids in circular ducts

In this study, forced convection heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids are investigated by numerical analysis of incompressible transient laminar flow in a circular duct under step change in wall temperature and wall heat flux. The thermal responses of the system are obtained by solving energy equation under both transient and steady-state conditions for hydro-dynamically fully-developed flow. In the analyses, temperature dependent thermo-physical properties are also considered. In the numerical analysis, Al₂O₃/water nanofluid is assumed as a homogenous single-phase fluid. For the effective thermal conductivity of nanofluids, Hamilton–Crosser model is used together with a model for Brownian motion in the analysis which takes the effects of temperature and the particle diameter into account. Temperature distributions across the tube for a step jump of wall temperature and also wall heat flux are obtained for various times during the transient calculations at a given location for a constant value of Peclet number and a particle diameter. Variations of thermal conductivity in turn, heat transfer enhancement is obtained at various times as a function of nanoparticle volume fractions, at a given nanoparticle diameter and Peclet number. The results are given under transient and steady-state conditions; steady-state conditions are obtained at larger times and enhancements are found by comparison to the base fluid heat transfer coefficient under the same conditions.     

On the deposition of particles in liquid metals onto vertical ceramic walls

The deposition of non-metallic particles in liquid-metal flows is a serious industrial problem because the build-up of particles on ceramic walls clogs the flow path and interrupts the production, and this leads to large economic losses. This paper is an effort to extend the current state-of-the-art knowledge of particle deposition in air in order to predict particle deposition rates in liquid-metal flows using an improved Eulerian deposition model and considering Brownian and turbulent diffusion, turbophoresis and thermophoresis as transportation mechanisms. The model was used to predict the rate of deposition of particles in an air flow, and the predictions were compared to published measurements to demonstrate its performance. The model was then modified to take into account the differences in properties between air and liquid metals and thereafter applied to liquid-metal flows. Effects on the deposition rate of parameters such as steel flow rate, particle diameter, particle density, wall roughness and temperature gradient near the wall were investigated. It is shown that the steel flow rate has a very important influence on the rate of deposition of large particles, for which turbophoresis is the main deposition mechanism. For small particles, both wall roughness and thermophoresis have a significant influence on the particle deposition rate. Particle deposition rates under various conditions were successfully predicted.     

The effect of the slip condition on Stokes and Couette flows due to an oscillating wall: exact solutions

Stokes and Couette flows produced by an oscillatory motion of a wall are analyzed under conditions where the no-slip assumption between the wall and the fluid is no longer valid. The motion of the wall is assumed to have a generic sinusoidal behavior. The exact solutions include both steady periodic and transient velocity profiles. It is found that slip conditions between the wall and the fluid produces lower amplitudes of oscillations in the flow near the oscillating wall than when no-slip assumption is utilized. Further, the relative velocity between the fluid layer at the wall and the speed of the wall is found to overshoot at a specific oscillating slip parameter or vibrational Reynolds number at certain times. In addition, it is found that wall slip reduces the transient velocity for Stokes flow while minimum transient effects for Couette flow is achieved only for large and small values of the wall slip coefficient and the gap thickness, respectively. The time needed to reach to steady periodic Stokes flow due to sine oscillations is greater than that for cosine oscillations with both wall slip and no-slip conditions.     

Shear-augmented solute dispersion during drug delivery for three-layer flow through microvessel under stress jump and momentum slip-Darcy model

Nanoparticle(drug particle) dispersion is an important phenomenon during nanodrug delivery in the bloodstream by using multifunctional carrier particles. The aim of this study is to understand the dispersion of drug particle(nanoparticle) transport during steady blood flow through a microvessel. A two-phase fluid model is considered to define blood flow through a microvessel. Plug and intermediate regions are defined by a non-Newtonian Herschel-Bulkley fluid model where the plug region appears due to the aggregation of red blood cells at the axis in the vessel. The peripheral(porous in nature)region is defined by the Newtonian fluids. The wall of the microvessel is considered to be permeable and characterized by the Darcy model. Stress-jump and velocity slip conditions are incorporated respectively at the interface of the intermediate and peripheral regions and at the inner surface of the microvessel. The effects of the rheological parameter, the pressure constant, the particle volume fraction, the stress jump constant, the slip constant,and the yield stress on the dispersion are analyzed and discussed. It is observed that the non-dimensional pressure gradient and the yield stress enhance the dispersion rate of the nanoparticle, while the opposite trends are observed for the velocity slip constant, the nanoparticle volume fraction, the rheological parameter, and the stress-jump constant.     

Experimental and mechanistic study of dispersed micrometer-sized particle resuspension in a square straight duct with rough walls

The resuspension of graphite dust is an important phenomenon in the release of radioactivity and the safety of nuclear reactors during severe accidents. In this study, a visualization experimental platform is constructed to study effects of particle size, flow velocity, and wall roughness on the resuspension characteristics of graphite particles. A statistical model of particle resuspension applicable to monolayer dispersed particles is developed based on the moment equilibrium of the particles and the flow field characteristics, as calculated by the large-eddy simulation framework. The results show that particle resuspension can be divided into short- and long-term resuspension stages. Most particle resuspension occurs during the short-term stage. With increases in flow velocity and particle diameter, the aerodynamic or adhesion force acting on the particles increases, and corresponding particle resuspension fraction increases. The influence of rough walls on particle resuspension is related to both the force on the particles and the arm ratio between the wall morphology and the particle diameter. A comparison with the experimental results demonstrates that the particle resuspension model developed in this study accurately predicts the impact of flow velocity, particle size, and wall roughness on particle resuspension.     

A model for tracking inertial particles in a lattice Boltzmann turbulent flow simulation

A computationally inexpensive model for tracking inertial particles through a turbulent flow is presented and applied to the turbulent flow through a square duct having a friction Reynolds number of Re_τ = 300. Prior to introducing particles into the model, the flow is simulated using a lattice Boltzmann computation, which is allowed to evolve until a steady state turbulent flow is achieved. A snapshot of the flow is then stored, and the trajectories of particles are computed through the flow domain under the influence of this static probability field. Although the flow is not computationally evolving during the particle tracking simulation, the local velocity is obtained stochastically from the local probability function, thus allowing the dynamics of the turbulent flow to be resolved from the point of view of the suspended particles. Particle inertia is modeled by using a relaxation parameter based on the particle Stokes number that allows for a particle velocity history to be incorporated during each time step. Wall deposition rates and deposition patterns are obtained and exhibit a high level of agreement with previously obtained DNS computational results and experimental results for a wide range of particle inertia. These results suggest that accurate particle tracking through complex turbulent flows may be feasible given a suitable probability field, such as one obtained from a lattice Boltzmann simulation. This in turn presents a new paradigm for the rapid acquisition of particle transport statistics without the need for concurrent computations of fluid flow evolution.