Mutual Enhancements of CFD Modeling and Experimental Data: A Case Study of 1-μm Particle Deposition in a Branching Airway Model

Abstract

In order to better understand aerosol dynamics and deposition in the complex flow field of the respiratory tract, both in vitro experiments and numerical modeling techniques have widely been employed. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling offers the flexibility of easily modifying system parameters such as flow rates, particle sizes, system geometry, and heterogeneous outlet conditions. However, a number of numerical errors and artifacts can lead to nonphysical CFD results. Experimental methods offer the advantage of physical realism; however, parameter variation is often difficult. The objective of this study is to illustrate the use of CFD to enhance the understanding of experimental results. In parallel, the selected experimental results have been used to partially validate the CFD predictions. A specific case study has been considered focusing on 1-μm particle depositions in a physiologically realistic bifurcation (PRB) model of respiratory generations 3–5. Previous experiments in this system report a deposition rate of approximately 0.01%. An in-depth CFD analysis has been employed to evaluate two cases of the empirical model. The first case consists of only the PRB double bifurcation geometry. The second case includes a portion of the experimental particle delivery system, which may influence the entering velocity and particle profiles. To assess the influence of upstream transition and turbulence, each of the two cases considered has been evaluated using laminar and low Reynolds number k–ω approximations. Results indicate that both upstream flow effects and turbulent or transitional flow play a significant role in determining the deposition of 1-μm particles in the model considered. Simulating upstream flow effects and laminar flow was required to match the empirically reported deposition fraction and provided a two orders of magnitude improvement over initial CFD estimates. This study highlights the need to consider the effects of experimental particle generation systems on velocity and particle profiles entering respiratory models. Future work is necessary to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the experimentally observed local deposition patterns.