Abstract
Large eddy simulation (LES) technique is employed to numerically investigate the airflow through an idealized human extra-thoracic airway under different breathing conditions, 10, 30, and 120 l/min. The computational results are compared with single and cross hot-wire measurements, and with time-averaged flow field computed by standard \(k\text{- }\omega \) and \(k\text{- }\omega \)-SST Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) models and the Lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The LES results are also compared to root-mean-square (RMS) flow field computed by the Reynolds stress model (RSM) and LBM. LES generally gives better prediction of the time-averaged flow field than RANS models and LBM. LES also provides better estimation of the RMS flow field than both the RSM and the LBM.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Prof. A. Pollard of Queen’s University, Canada, and Dr. Christopher G. Ball for sharing the geometry details and for their kindly discussion of the experiments. This work was supported by NIH and in part by an allocation of computing time from the Ohio Supercomputer Center.
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This study was supported by the NIH grant R01HL105206.
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Chen, J., Gutmark, E. Numerical investigation of airflow in an idealized human extra-thoracic airway: a comparison study. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 13, 205–214 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-013-0496-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-013-0496-x