Effect of Pulsatility on the Transport of Thrombin in an Idealized Cerebral Aneurysm Geometry

Computational models of cerebral aneurysm thrombosis are designed for use in research and clinical applications. A steady flow assumption is applied in many of these models. To explore the accuracy of this assumption a pulsatile-flow thrombin-transport computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, which uses a symmetrical idealized aneurysm geometry, was developed. First, a steady-flow computational model was developed and validated using data from an in vitro experiment, based on particle image velocimetry (PIV). The experimental data revealed an asymmetric flow pattern in the aneurysm. The validated computational model was subsequently altered to incorporate pulsatility, by applying a data-derived flow function at the inlet boundary. For both the steady and pulsatile computational models, a scalar function simulating thrombin generation was applied at the aneurysm wall. To determine the influence of pulsatility on thrombin transport, the outputs of the steady model were compared to the outputs of the pulsatile model. The comparison revealed that in the pulsatile case, an average of 10.2% less thrombin accumulates within the aneurysm than the steady case for any given time, due to periodic losses of a significant amount of thrombin-concentrated blood from the aneurysm into the parent vessel’s bloodstream. These findings demonstrate that pulsatility may change clotting outcomes in cerebral aneurysms.

Bridge Abutment Protection against Scouring for Unsteady Flow Conditions

The bridge abutment is one of the main parts of a bridge and significantly contributes to bridge stability. This study experimentally investigated the effect of the unsteadiness characteristics of hydrographs on the scouring phenomenon around the bridge abutment under clear water conditions. The ability of the permeable and impermeable spur dikes and their distances from the abutment at its upstream on the control of scouring around the bridge abutment was also investigated. The experimental observations imply that the effect of unsteady flow on the scouring process is relatively similar to the steady flow conditions. The results showed that the base time of hydrographs, the type of spur dikes, and the distance of spur dikes from the bridge abutment were the dominant parameters among the considered parameters in this study on the scouring process around the abutment. The results also revealed that the impermeable spur dike was able to completely eliminate scouring around the bridge abutment for two distances of 2L and 3L (where L is the abutment length) for both steady and unsteady flow conditions.

Evaluation of Flood Mitigation Effectiveness of Nature-Based Solutions Potential Cases with an Assessment Model for Flood Mitigation

In recent years, climate change has been widely discussed around the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published the Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) in 2021, which stated that with the intensification of global warming, heavy rainfalls are becoming more severe and frequent. Economic development in recent years has also caused the proportion of impervious areas in urban regions to increase with the advancement of urbanization. When the two aforementioned factors are coupled together, the result is faster surface runoff speeds and reduced infiltration rates, which in turn result in worse flooding. Thus, water disaster mitigation is becoming a topic of great importance to developed and developing countries. This study examined five Nature-based Solutions (NbS) cases (A, B C, D, E) for the Nangang river in Taiwan. Case A is to design levees with a 100-year return period flood design standard. Under steady flow conditions, floods can be smoothly discharged downstream without any significant inundation in most situations. Case B and C used gabions with a 10-year return period flood design standard and discontinuous levees with a 25-year return period flood design standard, respectively. Though neither case is as effective in flood mitigation, both cases B and C can still reduce inundation from the flooding disaster relatively well. Case D is to dredge local areas of the main channel, but the steady flow simulation showed little flood mitigation effect. Case E is the implementation of “Room for the River”, and employs main channel dredging and floodplain land grading to increase flood conveyance capacity. Case E provides good flood mitigation.

Manufacturing of Microfluidic Devices with Interchangeable Commercial Fiber Optic Sensors

In situ measurements are highly desirable in many microfluidic applications because they enable real-time, local monitoring of physical and chemical parameters, providing valuable insight into microscopic events and processes that occur in microfluidic devices. Unfortunately, the manufacturing of microfluidic devices with integrated sensors can be time-consuming, expensive, and “know-how” demanding. In this article, we describe an easy-to-implement method developed to integrate various “off-the-shelf” fiber optic sensors within microfluidic devices. To demonstrate this, we used commercial pH and pressure sensors (“pH SensorPlugs” and “FOP-MIV”, respectively), which were “reversibly” attached to a glass microfluidic device using custom 3D-printed connectors. The microfluidic device, which serves here as a demonstrator, incorporates a uniform porous structure and was manufactured using a picosecond pulsed laser. The sensors were attached to the inlet and outlet channels of the microfluidic pattern to perform simple experiments, the aim of which was to evaluate the performance of both the connectors and the sensors in a practical microfluidic environment. The bespoke connectors ensured robust and watertight connection, allowing the sensors to be safely disconnected if necessary, without damaging the microfluidic device. The pH SensorPlugs were tested with a pH 7.01 buffer solution. They measured the correct pH values with an accuracy of ±0.05 pH once sufficient contact between the injected fluid and the measuring element (optode) was established. In turn, the FOP-MIV sensors were used to measure local pressure in the inlet and outlet channels during injection and the steady flow of deionized water at different rates. These sensors were calibrated up to 140 mbar and provided pressure measurements with an uncertainty that was less than ±1.5 mbar. Readouts at a rate of 4 Hz allowed us to observe dynamic pressure changes in the device during the displacement of air by water. In the case of steady flow of water, the pressure difference between the two measuring points increased linearly with increasing flow rate, complying with Darcy’s law for incompressible fluids. These data can be used to determine the permeability of the porous structure within the device.

Effects of an external constant pressure gradient on a steady incompressible laminar flow through a semi-porous annular pipe

In this paper, we examine a steady laminar flow for an incompressible fluid located in a semi porous annular pipe and subjected to a favorable constant pressure gradient applied between the two borders of the pipe. The inner wall is impermeable and the fluid is sucked or injected at the outer wall at constant and uniform velocity, orthogonally to the wall. The problem under study depends on three parameters: the pipe gap ratio, the dimensionless external pressure gradient, and the Reynolds number defined from the sum of the suction or injection velocity and the maximum Hagen–Poiseuille velocity. The conservation of mass induces the zero-divergence velocity field which allows replacing the steady-flow Navier–Stokes equations with a single equation satisfied by the stream function and called the vorticity equation. Assuming the similarity-solution hypothesis, the problem under consideration is reduced to a fourth-order nonlinear ordinary differential equation with two boundary conditions at each wall. The numerical shooting technique including the Runge–Kutta algorithm and the Newton–Raphson optimization method is applied to obtain the solution for the steady flow. For various values of the dimensionless external pressure gradient, the profiles of the velocity components are found and investigations on the wall shear stress for both walls are performed. The results obtained are discussed and physical understandings for the problem studied are derived.

INVESTIGATION OF CONJUGATED HEAT TRANSFER FOR A RADIAL TURBINE WITH IMPINGEMENT COOLING

Radial turbine is widely used in micro-turbines, turbochargers, small jet engines and expanders, and the pursue of high system efficiency has resulted in elevated turbine inlet temperatures for some of its applications, threatening its reliability. There are, however, few cooling studies on radial turbines. This paper studies the jet impingement cooling of a turbocharger radial turbine. A small amount of air (coolant), which could come from compressor discharge cooled by an intercooler, is injected through a few jet holes on the heat shield of the turbine onto the upper part of turbine backdisc, to cool the rotor blades and the backdisc. Parameters that may affect the cooling were studied by a Conjugated Heat Transfer (CHT) numerical simulation using steady flow calculations. The influences to the cooling effects by different coolant-to-turbine mass flow ratios, Coolant-to-turbine inlet temperature ratio, number of the jets etc. were analysed by a steady flow simulation. The simulation results show that, when four jet holes are placed at blade leading edge radius, using 1.0% ~ 3.0% of the main gas mass flow of coolant, the average temperature on leading edge, inducer hub and backdisc surface is reduced by 2K ~ 17K,27K ~ 65K and 51K ~ 70K respectively. Turbine efficiency is mostly reduced little over 1% point.