The turbulence structures near a sheared air-water interface were experimentally investigated with the hydrogen bubble visualization technique. Surface shear was imposed by an airflow over the water flow which was kep...The turbulence structures near a sheared air-water interface were experimentally investigated with the hydrogen bubble visualization technique. Surface shear was imposed by an airflow over the water flow which was kept free from surface waves. Results show that the wind shear has the main influence on coherent structures under air-water interfaces. Low- and high- speed streaks form in the region close to the interface as a result of the imposed shear stress. When a certain airflow velocity is reached, “turbulent spots” appear randomly at low-speed streaks with some characteristics of hairpin vortices. At even higher shear rates, the flow near the interface is dominated primarily by intermittent bursting events. The coherent structures observed near sheared air-water interfaces show qualitative similarities with those occurring in near-wall turbulence. However, a few distinctive phenomena were also observed, including the fluctuating thickness of the instantaneous boundary layer and vertical vortices in bursting processes, which appear to be associated with the characteristics of air-water interfaces.展开更多
A better understanding of airflow characteristics in the upper airway(UA) is crucial in investigating obstructive sleep apnea(OSA), particle sedimentation, drug delivery, and many biomedical problems. Direct visualiza...A better understanding of airflow characteristics in the upper airway(UA) is crucial in investigating obstructive sleep apnea(OSA), particle sedimentation, drug delivery, and many biomedical problems. Direct visualization of air flow patterns in in-vitro models with realistic anatomical structures is a big challenge. In this study, we constructed unique half-side transparent physical models of normal UA based on realistic anatomical structures. A smoke-wire method was developed to visualize the air flow in UA models directly. The results revealed that the airflow through the pharynx was laminar but not turbulent under normal inspiration, which suggested that compared with turbulent models, a laminar model should be more suitable in numerical simulations. The flow predicted numerically using the laminar model was consistent with the observations in the physical models. The comparison of the velocity fields predicted numerically using the half-side and complete models confirmed that it was reasonable to investigate the flow behaviors in UA using the half-side model. Using the laminar model, we simulated the flow and evaluated the effects of UA narrowing caused by rostral fluid shift on pharyngeal resistance. The results suggested that fluid shift could play an important role in the formation of hypopnea or OSA during sleep.展开更多
The characteristics of low-speed fluid streaks occurring under sheared air-water interfaces were examined by means of hydrogen bubble visualization technique. A critical shear condition under which the streaky structu...The characteristics of low-speed fluid streaks occurring under sheared air-water interfaces were examined by means of hydrogen bubble visualization technique. A critical shear condition under which the streaky structure first appears was determined to be u(tau) approximate to 0.19 cm/s. The mean spanwise streak spacing increases with distance from the water surface owing to merging and bursting processes, and a linear relationship describing variation of non-dimensional spacing <(<lambda>+)over bar> versus y(+) was found essentially independent of shear stress on the interface. Values of <(<lambda>+)over bar>, however, are remarkably smaller than their counterparts in the near-wall region of turbulent boundary layers. Though low-speed streaks occur randomly in time and space, the streak spacing exhibits a lognormal probability distribution behavior. A tentative explanation concerning the formation of streaky structure is suggested, and the fact that <(<lambda>+)over bar> takes rather smaller values than that in wall turbulence is briefly discussed.展开更多
基金The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.19672070)
文摘The turbulence structures near a sheared air-water interface were experimentally investigated with the hydrogen bubble visualization technique. Surface shear was imposed by an airflow over the water flow which was kept free from surface waves. Results show that the wind shear has the main influence on coherent structures under air-water interfaces. Low- and high- speed streaks form in the region close to the interface as a result of the imposed shear stress. When a certain airflow velocity is reached, “turbulent spots” appear randomly at low-speed streaks with some characteristics of hairpin vortices. At even higher shear rates, the flow near the interface is dominated primarily by intermittent bursting events. The coherent structures observed near sheared air-water interfaces show qualitative similarities with those occurring in near-wall turbulence. However, a few distinctive phenomena were also observed, including the fluctuating thickness of the instantaneous boundary layer and vertical vortices in bursting processes, which appear to be associated with the characteristics of air-water interfaces.
基金supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (31670959, 81171422)the National Science and Technology Pillar Program of China (2012BAI05B03)+2 种基金the Key Projects in Science and Technology Program of Beijing Municipal Education Commission, China (KZ201210025022)Beijing Postdoctoral Research Foundation (2016ZZ-45)Beijing Key Laboratory of Fundamental Research on Biomechanics in Clinical Application
文摘A better understanding of airflow characteristics in the upper airway(UA) is crucial in investigating obstructive sleep apnea(OSA), particle sedimentation, drug delivery, and many biomedical problems. Direct visualization of air flow patterns in in-vitro models with realistic anatomical structures is a big challenge. In this study, we constructed unique half-side transparent physical models of normal UA based on realistic anatomical structures. A smoke-wire method was developed to visualize the air flow in UA models directly. The results revealed that the airflow through the pharynx was laminar but not turbulent under normal inspiration, which suggested that compared with turbulent models, a laminar model should be more suitable in numerical simulations. The flow predicted numerically using the laminar model was consistent with the observations in the physical models. The comparison of the velocity fields predicted numerically using the half-side and complete models confirmed that it was reasonable to investigate the flow behaviors in UA using the half-side model. Using the laminar model, we simulated the flow and evaluated the effects of UA narrowing caused by rostral fluid shift on pharyngeal resistance. The results suggested that fluid shift could play an important role in the formation of hypopnea or OSA during sleep.
基金The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (19672070)
文摘The characteristics of low-speed fluid streaks occurring under sheared air-water interfaces were examined by means of hydrogen bubble visualization technique. A critical shear condition under which the streaky structure first appears was determined to be u(tau) approximate to 0.19 cm/s. The mean spanwise streak spacing increases with distance from the water surface owing to merging and bursting processes, and a linear relationship describing variation of non-dimensional spacing <(<lambda>+)over bar> versus y(+) was found essentially independent of shear stress on the interface. Values of <(<lambda>+)over bar>, however, are remarkably smaller than their counterparts in the near-wall region of turbulent boundary layers. Though low-speed streaks occur randomly in time and space, the streak spacing exhibits a lognormal probability distribution behavior. A tentative explanation concerning the formation of streaky structure is suggested, and the fact that <(<lambda>+)over bar> takes rather smaller values than that in wall turbulence is briefly discussed.
