Fluid-structure interaction analysis of airflow in the lung alveolus

Abstract

The flow simulation in alveolar region is imperative in understanding transport of particles and designing aerosol drug delivery systems. Air flow is dependent on alveolar geometry and ventilation conditions. In this work a three dimensional honey-comb like geometry is constructed. A fluid-structure analysis is performed to study normal breathing airflow. Mechanical properties of alveolar wall tissue play an important role in the deformation of alveoli. We have used three distinct material models, linear, non-linear isotropic elastic and viscoelastic, in order to simulate the mechanical behavior of alveolar wall tissue and air flow simulation in it. Our simulation shows that linear and non-linear elastic models cannot describe alveolar tissue behavior as well as viscoelastic.