Towards Experimental Validation of Models of Shear-Induced Aerosol Generation in the Human Respiratory System
摘要
Numerical modeling is a valuable tool to research shear-induced aerosol generation inside the human respiratory system. While the volume of fluid method and Eulerian wall film models have been used to predict the stripping of particles from the mucus film, sufficient validation data is lacking. Here, we present an experimental method to create such validation data. A film of mucus mimetic hydrogel with an initial thickness of 1 mm covering the floor of a rectangular channel (75.5 mm \(\times \) 25.5 mm \(\times \) 3 mm) was exposed to an airflow with a flow rate of 9.5 and 21.6 L/min. The number of created particles and the emergence of waves on the mucus surface were measured. Shear-induced aerosol generation was triggered successfully and caused an increase of mean particle flow. Different wave profiles were observed at varying film depths.