Visualizing Particle/Flow Structure Interactions in the Small Bronchial Tubes

Soni, B. J., Thompson, D., & Machiraju, R. (2008). Visualizing Particle/Flow Structure Interactions in the Small Bronchial Tubes. IEEE Trans. Vis. Comp. Graphics (Proc. Visualization/Information Visualization 2008). Washintgon, DC: IEEE. 14(6), 1412-1419. DOI:10.1109/TVCG.2008.183.

Abstract

Particle deposition in the small bronchial tubes (generations six through twelve) is strongly influenced by the vortex-dominated secondary flows that are induced by axial curvature of the tubes. In this paper, we employ particle destination maps in conjunction with two-dimensional, finite-time Lyapunov exponent maps to illustrate how the trajectories of finite-mass particles are influenced by the presence of vortices. We consider two three-generation bronchial tube models: a planar, asymmetric geometry and a non-planar, asymmetric geometry. Our visualizations demonstrate that these techniques, coupled with judiciously seeded particle trajectories, are effective tools for studying particle/flow structure interactions.