IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/fracta/v29y2021i03ns0218348x21500535.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Fractal Analysis And Numerical Simulation On Pulsating Flow Patterns In A Three-Dimensional Bronchial Tree

Author

Listed:
  • JIANGHONG QIAN

    (College of Metrology and Measurement Engineering, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, P. R. China)

  • WEIWEI YAN

    (College of Metrology and Measurement Engineering, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, P. R. China)

  • ZHOU JIANG

    (��Sir Run Run Shao Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310016, P. R. China)

  • PENG XU

    (��College of Science, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou 310018, P. R. China)

Abstract

The pulsating airflow through human bronchial tree is of great significance for understanding its function and morphology. Fractal theory and numerical simulation are applied in this paper to study the global and local flow characteristics in the bronchial tree under unstable conditions. First, the pulsating flow impedance of fractal bronchial tree is derived, and the structure of bronchial tree is optimized by minimizing flow impedance. It has been shown that the optimal structure depends on the physical law governing the airflow. The optimized diameter ratio between parent and daughter branches for pulsating flow is different from Murray’s law, and the fractal dimension for branch diameter lies in 2 and 3. Afterwards, the local pulsating flow field by three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulation on a symmetrical bronchial model is compared with the global flow characteristics by fractal analysis. The numerical results show that asymmetrical airflow characteristics can be found at high Reynolds number, and the velocity distribution of the main bronchus is more irregular and the turbulence phenomenon is more evident. This work can help to understand the association between function and structure of the bronchial tree, and it may shed light on the physical mechanisms and drugs targeting of pulmonary disease.

Suggested Citation

  • Jianghong Qian & Weiwei Yan & Zhou Jiang & Peng Xu, 2021. "Fractal Analysis And Numerical Simulation On Pulsating Flow Patterns In A Three-Dimensional Bronchial Tree," FRACTALS (fractals), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 29(03), pages 1-10, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:fracta:v:29:y:2021:i:03:n:s0218348x21500535
    DOI: 10.1142/S0218348X21500535
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S0218348X21500535
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S0218348X21500535?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:fracta:v:29:y:2021:i:03:n:s0218348x21500535. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscinet/fractals .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.