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Comparison of converging and diverging radial flow for measuring cell adhesion
Author(s) -
Goldstein Aaron S.,
DiMilla Paul A.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690440222
Subject(s) - streamlines, streaklines, and pathlines , mechanics , axial symmetry , flow (mathematics) , shear stress , inertia , shear flow , fictitious force , shear (geology) , materials science , classical mechanics , physics , geometry , mathematics , composite material
Abstract Radial flow between parallel surfaces produces a spatially dependent wall shear stress that permits investigation of cell adhesion for a range of shear simultaneously. The maximum for this range is limited by accurate prediction of fluid mechanics at small radial positions. Numerical and analytical models for predicting fluid mechanics demonstrate that corner and inertial effects at small radial positions are not only significant but differ with the direction of flow (i.e., converging vs. diverging). For diverging flow from an axially oriented inlet, the recirculation zone downstream of the corner disturbs streamlines at small radial positions. With converging flow this recirculation zone is confined to the axially oriented outlet. Also, inertia contributes positively for converging flow, enhancing the magnitude of shear stress, but negatively for diverging flow. Experiments with cells support the validity of this analysis: the strength of cell adhesion does not vary with direction or magnitude of flow.