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Fluid‐structure interaction including volumetric coupling with homogenised subdomains for modeling respiratory mechanics
Author(s) -
Yoshihara Lena,
Roth Christian J.,
Wall Wolfgang A.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in biomedical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.741
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 2040-7947
pISSN - 2040-7939
DOI - 10.1002/cnm.2812
Subject(s) - fluid–structure interaction , airflow , coupling (piping) , computer science , respiratory physiology , computational fluid dynamics , fluid mechanics , current (fluid) , constraint (computer aided design) , flow (mathematics) , fluid dynamics , finite volume method , deformation (meteorology) , finite element method , mechanics , mechanical engineering , respiratory system , engineering , physics , structural engineering , medicine , thermodynamics , meteorology
Summary In this article, a novel approach is presented for combining standard fluid‐structure interaction with additional volumetric constraints to model fluid flow into and from homogenised solid domains. The proposed algorithm is particularly interesting for investigations in the field of respiratory mechanics as it enables the mutual coupling of airflow in the conducting part and local tissue deformation in the respiratory part of the lung by means of a volume constraint. In combination with a classical monolithic fluid‐structure interaction approach, a comprehensive model of the human lung can be established that will be useful to gain new insights into respiratory mechanics in health and disease. To illustrate the validity and versatility of the novel approach, three numerical examples including a patient‐specific lung model are presented. The proposed algorithm proves its capability of computing clinically relevant airflow distribution and tissue strain data at a level of detail that is not yet achievable, neither with current imaging techniques nor with existing computational models. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.