Flow visualization studies and supplementary numerical simulations are carried out on slow flow through a model alveolated duct. The results reveal that the type of flow that develops in the alveoli, or cavities, is controlled by the ratio of the depth to the width of the cavity and by the ratio of cavity volume to duct volume. While weak, the slowly rotating flow in the cavity is thought to be important to the convective transport of heat and mass transfer to, or from, the walls of the cavity. The relevance of these finding to particle transport and deposition deep in the lung is discussed.
Issue Section:
Fluids/Heat/Transport
1.
Frederspiel
, W. J.
, and Fredberg
, J. J.
, 1988
, “Axial dispersion in alveolar ducts and respiratory bronchioles
,” J. Appl. Physiol.
, 64
(6
), pp. 2414
–2621
.2.
Tsuda
, A.
, Federspiel
, W. J.
, Grant
, Jr., P. A.
, and Fredberg
, J. J.
, 1991
, “Axial dispersion of inert species in alveolated channels
,” Chem. Eng. Sci.
, 46
, pp. 1419
–1426
.3.
Tsuda
, A.
, Butler
, J. P.
, and Fredberg
, J. J.
, 1994
, “Effects of alveolated duct structure on aerosol kinetics. I. Diffusional deposition in the absence of gravity
,” J. Appl. Physiol.
, 76
(6
), pp. 2497
–2509
.4.
Tsuda
, A.
, Butler
, J. P.
, and Fredberg
, J. J.
, 1994
, “Effects of alveolated duct structure on aerosol kinetics. II. Gravitational sedimentation and inertial impaction
,” J. Appl. Physiol.
, 76
(6
), pp. 2510
–2516
.5.
Darquenne
, C.
, and Paiva
, M.
, 1996
, “Two- and three-dimensional simulations of aerosol transport and deposition in alveolar zone of human lung
,” J. Appl. Physiol.
, 80
, pp. 2889
–2898
.6.
Brain, J. D., Blanchard, J. D., and Sweeney, T. D., 1989, “Deposition and Fate of Inhaled Pharmacologic Aerosols,” Provocative Challenge Procedures: Background and Methology, edited by S. D. Spector. Mount Kisco, NY: Futura, pp. 1–36.
7.
Tsuda
, A.
, Henry
, F. S.
, and Butler
, J. P.
, 1995
, “Chaotic mixing of alveolated duct flow in rhythmically expanding pulmonary acinus
,” J. Appl. Physiol.
, 79
(3
), pp. 1055
–1063
.8.
Henry
, F. S.
, Butler
, J. P.
, and Tsuda
, A.
, 2002
, “Kinematically irreversible flow and aerosol transport in the pulmonary acinus: a departure from classical dispersive transport
,” J. Appl. Physiol.
, 92
, pp. 835
–845
.9.
Haber
, S.
, Yitzhak
, D.
, and Tsuda
, A.
, 2003
, “Gravitational deposition in a rhythmically expanding and contracting alveolus
,” J. Appl. Physiol.
, 95
, pp. 657
–671
.10.
Taneda
, S.
, 1979
, “Visualization of separating Stokes flows
,” J. Phys. Soc. Jpn.
, 46
, pp. 1935
–1942
.11.
Higdon
, J. L.
, 1985
, “Stokes flow in arbitrary two-dimensional domains: shear flow over ridges and cavities
,” J. Fluid Mech.
, 159
, pp. 195
–226
.12.
Haefli-Bleuer
, B.
, and Weibel
, E. R.
, 1988
, “Morphometry of human pulmonary acinus
,” Anat. Rec.
, 220
, pp. 440
–414
.13.
Mercer
, R. R.
, Laco
, J. M.
, and Crapo
, J. D.
, 1987
, “Three-dimensional reconstruction of alveoli in the rat lung for pressure-volume relationships
,” J. Appl. Physiol.
, 62
(4
), pp. 1480
–1487
.14.
Batchelor, G. K., 1967, An introduction to fluid dynamics, Cambridge University Press, London.
15.
Anderson, D. A., Tannehill, J. C., and Pletcher, R. H., 1984, Computational fluid mechanics and heat transfer, Hemisphere, New York (page 130)
16.
Press, W. H., Teukolsky, S. A., Vetterling, W. T., and Flannery, B. P., 1992, Numerical Recipes in FORTRAN: The Art of Scientific Computing, 2nd Ed., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
17.
Ottino, J. M., 1989, The Kinematics of Mixing: Stretching, Chaos and Transport. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
18.
Tsuda
, A.
, Rogers
, R. A.
, Hydon
, P. E.
, and Butler
, J. P.
, 2002
, “Chaotic mixing deep in the lung
,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
, 99
(15
), pp. 10173
–10178
.19.
Takematsu
, M.
, 1966
, “Slow viscous flow past a cavity
,” J. Phys. Soc. Jpn.
, 21
(9
), pp. 1816
–1821
.20.
Weinbaum
, S.
, 1967
, “On the singular points in the laminar two-dimensional near wake flow field
,” J. Fluid Mech.
, 33
, pp. 38
–63
.21.
Pan
, F.
, and Acrivos
, A.
, 1967
, “Steady flows in rectangular cavities
,” J. Fluid Mech.
, 28
(4
), pp. 643
–655
.22.
Burri, P. H., 1985, “Development and growth of the human lung,” Physiology Handbook: The Respiratory System I. Am. Physiol. Soc., Chap. 1, pp. 1–46, The William & Wilkins Co., Baltimore.
23.
Friedlander, S. K., 1977, Smoke, Dust, and Haze, Wiley, New York.
Copyright © 2004
by ASME
You do not currently have access to this content.
