Raúl Antón

Film Thickness and Heat Transfer Measurements in a Spray Cooling System With R134a

Experimental measurements in a spray cooling test rig have been carried out for several heat fluxes in the heater and different spray volumetric fluxes with the dielectric refrigerant R134a. Results of the heat transfer and the sprayed refrigerant film thickness measurements are presented. The film thickness measurements have been made with a high speed camera equipped with a long distance microscope. It has been found that there is a relation between the variation in the average Nusselt number and the film thickness along the spray cooling boiling curve. The heat transfer regimes along that curve are related not only with a variation in the average Nusselt number but also with changes in the film thickness. The qualitative analysis of those variations has served to understand better the heat transfer mechanisms occurring during the spray cooling.

Effects of Intraluminal Thrombus on Patient-Specific Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Hemodynamics via Stereoscopic Particle Image Velocity and Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling

The pathology of the human abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and its relationship to the later complication of intraluminal thrombus (ILT) formation remains unclear. The hemodynamics in the diseased abdominal aorta are hypothesized to be a key contributor to the formation and growth of ILT. The objective of this investigation is to establish a reliable 3D flow visualization method with corresponding validation tests with high confidence in order to provide insight into the basic hemodynamic features for a better understanding of hemodynamics in AAA pathology and seek potential treatment for AAA diseases. A stereoscopic particle image velocity (PIV) experiment was conducted using transparent patient-specific experimental AAA models (with and without ILT) at three axial planes. Results show that before ILT formation, a 3D vortex was generated in the AAA phantom. This geometry-related vortex was not observed after the formation of ILT, indicating its possible role in the subsequent appearance of ILT in this patient. It may indicate that a longer residence time of recirculated blood flow in the aortic lumen due to this vortex caused sufficient shear-induced platelet activation to develop ILT and maintain uniform flow conditions. Additionally, two computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling codes (Fluent and an in-house cardiovascular CFD code) were compared with the two-dimensional, three-component velocity stereoscopic PIV data. Results showed that correlation coefficients of the out-of-plane velocity data between PIV and both CFD methods are greater than 0.85, demonstrating good quantitative agreement. The stereoscopic PIV study can be utilized as test case templates for ongoing efforts in cardiovascular CFD solver development. Likewise, it is envisaged that the patient-specific data may provide a benchmark for further studying hemodynamics of actual AAA, ILT, and their convolution effects under physiological conditions for clinical applications.

Experimental and computational investigation of the patient-specific abdominal aortic aneurysm pressure field

The objective of the present manuscript is three-fold: (i) to study the detailed pressure field inside a patient-specific abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) model experimentally and numerically and discuss its clinical relevance, (ii) to validate a number of possible numerical model options and their ability to predict the experimental pressure field and (iii) to compare the spatial pressure drop in the AAA before and after the formation of intraluminal thrombus (ILT) for a late disease development timeline. A finite volume method was used to solve the governing equations of fluid flow to simulate the flow dynamics in a numerical model of the AAA. Following our patient-specific anatomical rapid prototyping technique, physical models of the aneurysm were created with seven ports for pressure measurement along the blood flow path. A flow loop operating with a blood analogue fluid was used to replicate the patient-specific flow conditions, acquired with phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging, and measure pressure in the flow model. The Navier–Stokes equations and two turbulent models were implemented numerically to compare the pressure estimations with experimental measurements. The relative pressure difference from experiments obtained with the best performing model (unsteady laminar simulation) was ∼1.1% for the AAA model without ILT and ∼15.4% for the AAA model with ILT (using Reynolds Stress Model). Future investigations should include validation of the 3D velocity field and wall shear stresses within the AAA sac predicted by the three numerical models.

Linear spatial instability of viscous flow of a liquid sheet through gas

The present paper focuses on the linear spatial instability of a viscous two-dimensional liquid sheet bounded by two identical viscous gas streams. The Orr–Sommerfeld differential equations and the ...

Liver Cancer Arterial Perfusion Modelling and CFD Boundary Conditions Methodology: A Case Study of the Haemodynamics of a Patient‐Specific Hepatic Artery in Literature‐Based Healthy and Tumour‐Bearing Liver Scenarios

Some of the latest treatments for unresectable liver malignancies (primary or metastatic tumours), which include bland embolisation, chemoembolisation, and radioembolisation, among others, take advantage of the increased arterial blood supply to the tumours to locally attack them. A better understanding of the factors that influence this transport may help improve the therapeutic procedures by taking advantage of flow patterns or by designing catheters and infusion systems that result in the injected beads having increased access to the tumour vasculature. Computational analyses may help understand the haemodynamic patterns and embolic-microsphere transport through the hepatic arteries. In addition, physiological inflow and outflow boundary conditions are essential in order to reliably represent the blood flow through arteries. This study presents a liver cancer arterial perfusion model based on a literature review and derives boundary conditions for tumour-bearing liver-feeding hepatic arteries based on the arterial perfusion characteristics of normal and tumorous liver segment tissue masses and the hepatic artery branching configuration. Literature-based healthy and tumour-bearing realistic scenarios are created and haemodynamically analysed for the same patient-specific hepatic artery. As a result, this study provides boundary conditions for computational fluid dynamics simulations that will allow researchers to numerically study, for example, various intravascular devices used for liver disease intra-arterial treatments with different cancer scenarios. Copyright

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: From Clinical Imaging to Realistic Replicas

The goal of this work is to develop a framework for manufacturing nonuniform wall thickness replicas of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). The methodology was based on the use of computed tomography (CT) images for virtual modeling, additive manufacturing for the initial physical replica, and a vacuum casting process and range of polyurethane resins for the final rubberlike phantom. The average wall thickness of the resulting AAA phantom was compared with the average thickness of the corresponding patient-specific virtual model, obtaining an average dimensional mismatch of 180 μm (11.14%). The material characterization of the artery was determined from uniaxial tensile tests as various combinations of polyurethane resins were chosen due to their similarity with ex vivo AAA mechanical behavior in the physiological stress configuration. The proposed methodology yields AAA phantoms with nonuniform wall thickness using a fast and low-cost process. These replicas may be used in benchtop experiments to validate deformations obtained with numerical simulations using finite element analysis, or to validate optical methods developed to image ex vivo arterial deformations during pressure-inflation testing.

Physiological outflow boundary conditions methodology for small arteries with multiple outlets: A patient-specific hepatic artery haemodynamics case study

Physiological outflow boundary conditions are necessary to carry out computational fluid dynamics simulations that reliably represent the blood flow through arteries. When dealing with complex three-dimensional trees of small arteries, and therefore with multiple outlets, the robustness and speed of convergence are also important. This study derives physiological outflow boundary conditions for cases in which the physiological values at those outlets are not known (neither in vivo measurements nor literature-based values are available) and in which the tree exhibits symmetry to some extent. The inputs of the methodology are the three-dimensional domain and the flow rate waveform and the systolic and diastolic pressures at the inlet. The derived physiological outflow boundary conditions, which are a physiological pressure waveform for each outlet, are based on the results of a zero-dimensional model simulation. The methodology assumes symmetrical branching and is able to tackle the flow distribution problem when the domain outlets are at branches with a different number of upstream bifurcations. The methodology is applied to a group of patient-specific arteries in the liver. The methodology is considered to be valid because the pulsatile computational fluid dynamics simulation with the inflow flow rate waveform (input of the methodology) and the derived outflow boundary conditions lead to physiological results, that is, the resulting systolic and diastolic pressures at the inlet match the inputs of the methodology, and the flow split is also physiological.

Computational particle–haemodynamics analysis of liver radioembolization pretreatment as an actual treatment surrogate

Liver radioembolization (RE) is a treatment option for patients with unresectable and chemorefractory primary and metastatic liver tumours. RE consists of intra-arterially administering via catheter radioactive microspheres that locally attack the tumours, sparing healthy tissue. Prior to RE, the standard practice is to conduct a treatment-mimicking pretreatment assessment via the infusion of 99m Tc-labelled macroaggregated albumin microparticles. The usefulness of this pretreatment has been debated in the literature, and thus, the aim of the present study is to shed light on this issue by numerically simulating the liver RE pretreatment and actual treatment particle-haemodynamics in a patient-specific hepatic artery under two different literature-based cancer scenarios and two different placements of a realistic end-hole microcatheter in the proper hepatic artery. The parameters that are analysed are the following: microagent quantity and size (accounting for RE pretreatment and treatment), catheter-tip position (near the proper hepatic artery bifurcation and away from it), and cancer burden (10% and 30% liver involvement). The conclusion that can be reached from the simulations is that when it comes to mimicking RE in terms of delivering particles to tumour-bearing segments, the catheter-tip position is much more important (because of the importance of local haemodynamic pattern alteration) than the infused microagents (i.e. quantity and size). Cancer burden is another important feature because the increase in blood flow rate to tumour-bearing segments increases the power to drag particles. These numerical simulation-based conclusions are in agreement with clinically observed events reported in the literature. Copyright

Detailed CFD Modelling of EMC Screens for Radio Base Stations: A Parametric Study

The objective of this paper is to make a parametric study of the hydraulic resistance and flow pattern of the flow after an electromagnetic compatibility screen and between two printed circuit boards (PCBs) in a model of a 90deg subrack cooling architecture. The parametric study is carried out using a detailed 3-D model of a PCB slot. The detailed model was experimentally validated in a previous paper by the authors. Seven parameters were investigated: velocity, inlet height, screen porosity, PCB thickness, distance between two PCBs, inlet-screen gap and screen thickness. A correlation for the static and dynamic pressure drop, the percentage of dimensionless wetted area, Aw*, and the RMS* factor (a function of the flow uniformity along the PCB) after the screen is reported as a function of six geometrical dimensionless parameters and the Reynolds number. The correlations, that are based on 174 three dimensional simulations, yield good results for the total pressure drop, in which the values are predicted within the interval of plusmn 15%. For the, Aw*, all the predicted values are within the interval of plusmn22% of the observed values. Finally, for the RMS* factor, the majority of the values also have a disagreement of less than 20% of the observed values. These last two parameters are believed to provide a correct insight about the flow pattern after the screen.

Detailed CFD Modeling of EMC Screen for Radio Base Stations: A Benchmark Study

The objective of this paper is to investigate the performance of five well-known turbulence models, in order to find a model that predicts the details of the flow patterns through an electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) screen. The turbulence models investigated in the present study are five different eddy-viscosity models; the standard k-epsiv model, the renormalization group (RNG) k-epsiv model, the realizable k-epsiv model, the standard k-omega model, as well as the shear stress transport k-omega model. A steady-state 3-D detailed model, which serves as the most accurate representation of the model, was used in order to evaluate the details of the airflow paths and pressure field. The flow was assumed to be isothermal, turbulent and incompressible. A general model that covers a considerable range of velocities and geometries was validated experimentally by wind tunnel measurements. The result shows that for most of the k-epsiv models used with correct y+ and mesh strategy, the pressure drop and the velocity field deviation is small compared to experimental data. The k-omega models overpredict the overall pressure drop. When using the RNG k-epsiv model, the total static pressure drop predicted differs around 5%-10% and the average velocity deviation at several locations before and after the screen is around 5%.