A prediction of in vivo mechanical stresses in blood vessels using thermal expansion method and its application to hypertension and vascular stenosis

Mechanical stimuli play critical roles in cardiovascular diseases,in which in vivo stresses in blood vessels present a great challenge to predict.Based on the structural-thermal coupled finite element method,we propose a thermal expansion method to estimate stresses in multi-layer blood vessels under healthy and pathological conditions.The proposed method provides a relatively simple and convenient means to predict reliable in vivo mechanical stresses with accurate residual stress.The method is first verified with the opening-up process and the pressure-radius responses for single and multi-layer vessel models.It is then applied to study the stress variation in a human carotid artery at different hypertension stages and in a plaque of vascular stenosis.Our results show that specific or optimal residual stresses exist for different blood pressures,which helps form a homogeneous stress distribution across vessel walls.High elastic shear stress is identified on the shoulder of the plaque,which contributes to the tearing effect in plaque rupture.The present study indicates that the proposed numerical method is a capable and efficient in vivo stress evaluation of patient-specific blood vessels for clinical purposes.

Numerical study of clathrin-mediated endocytosis of nanoparticles by cells under tension

In this study, a three-dimensional mathematical model was used to study the contribution of clathrins during the process of cellular uptake of spherical nanoparticles under different membrane tensions. The clathrin-coated pit (CCP) that forms around the inward budding of the cell membrane was modeled as a vesicle with bending rigidity. An optimization algorithm was proposed for minimizing the total energy of the system, which comprises the deforming nanoparticle, receptor-ligand bonds, cell membrane, and CCP, in which way, the profile of the system is acquired. The results showed that the CCP enable full wrapping of the nanoparticles at various membrane tensions. When the cell membrane tension increases, the total deformation energy also increases, but the ratio of CCP bending to the minimum value of the total energy of the system decreases. The results also showed that the diameter of the endocytic vesicles determined by the competition between the stretching of the cell membrane and confinement of the coated pits are much larger than the nanoparticles, which is quit different as the results in passive endocytosis that is not facilitated by the CCPs. The present results indicate that variations of tension on cell membranes constitutes a biophysical marker for understanding the size distribution of CCPs observed in experiments. The present results also suggest that the early abortion of endocytosis is related to that the receptor-ligand bonds cannot generate adequate force to wrap the nanoparticles into the cell membrane before the clathrins respond to support the endocytic vesicles. Correspondingly, late abortion may relate to the inability of CCPs to confine the nanoparticles until the occurrence of the necking stage of endocytosis.

Experimental and numerical investigation of the influence of roughness and turbulence on LUT airfoil performance

Vertical-axis wind turbines(VAWTs)have been widely used in urban environments,which contain dust and experience strong turbulence.However,airfoils for VAWTs in urban environments have received considerably less research attention than those for horizontal-axis wind turbines(HAWTs).In this study,the sensitivity of a new VAWT airfoil developed at the Lanzhou University of Technology(LUT)to roughness was investigated via a wind tunnel experiment.The results show that the LUT airfoil is less sensitive to roughness at a roughness height of<0.35 mm.Moreover,the drag bucket of the LUT airfoil decreases with increasing roughness height.Furthermore,the loads on the LUT airfoil during dynamic stall were studied at different turbulence intensities using a numerical method at a tip-speed ratio of 2.Before the stall,the turbulence intensity did not considerably affect the normal or tangential force coefficients of the LUT airfoil.However,after the stall,the normal force coefficient varied obviously at low turbulence intensity.Moreover,as the turbulence intensity increased,the normal and tangential force coefficients decreased rapidly,particularly in the downwind region of the VAWT.

A Numerical Study of Passive Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis of Nanoparticles:The Effect of Mechanical Properties

In this work,a three-dimensional axisymmetric model with nanoparticle,receptor-ligand bonds and cell membrane as a system was used to study the quasi-static receptor-mediated endocytosis process of spherical nanoparticles in drug delivery.The minimization of the system energy function was carried out numerically,and the deformations of nanoparticle,receptor-ligand bonds and cell membrane were predicted.Results show that passive endocytosis may fail due to the rupture of receptor-ligand bonds during the wrapping process,and the size and rigidity of nanoparticles affect the total deformation energy and the terminal wrapping stage.Our results suggest that,in addition to the energy requirement,the success of passive endocytosis also depends on the maximum strength of the receptor-ligand bonds.

A nonlinear model for aerodynamic configuration of wake behind horizontal-axis wind turbine

Determination of the aerodynamic configuration of wake is the key to analysis and evaluation of the rotor aerodynamic characteristics of a horizontal-axis wind turbine. According to the aerodynamic configuration, the real magnitude and direction of the onflow velocity at the rotor blade can be determined, and subsequently, the aerodynamic force on the rotor can be determined. The commonly employed wake aerodynamic models are of the cylindrical form instead of the actual expanding one. This is because the influence of the radial component of the induced velocity on the wake configuration is neglected. Therefore, this model should be called a "linear model". Using this model means that the induced velocities at the rotor blades and aerodynamic loads on them would be inexact. An approximately accurate approach is proposed in this paper to determine the so-called "nonlinear" wake aerodynamic configuration by means of the potential theory, where the influence of all three coordinate components of the induced velocity on wake aerodynamic configuration is taken into account to obtain a kind of expanding wake that approximately looks like an actual one. First, the rotor aerodynamic model composed of axial (central), bound, and trailing vortexes is established with the help of the finite aspect wing theory. Then, the Biot-Savart formula for the potential flow theory is used to derive a set of integral equations to evaluate the three components of the induced velocity at any point within the wake. The numerical solution to the integral equations is found, and the loci of all elementary trailing vortex filaments behind the rotor are determined thereafter. Finally, to formulate an actual wind turbine rotor, using the nonlinear wake model, the induced velocity everywhere in the wake, especially that at the rotor blade, is obtained in the case of various tip speed ratios and compared with the wake boundary in a neutral atmospheric boundary layer. Hereby, some useful and referential conclusions are offered for the aerodynamic computation and design of the rotor of the horizontal-axis wind turbine.

Numerical Simulation of Blood Flow in Aorta with Dilation:A Comparison between Laminar and LES Modeling Methods

Computational modeling methods have been increasingly employed to quantify aortic hemodynamic parameters that are challenging to in vivo measurements but important for the diagnosis/treatment of aortic disease.Although the presence of turbulence-like behaviors of blood flow in normal or diseased aorta has long been confirmed,the majority of existing computational model studies adopted the laminar flow assumption(LFA)in the treatment of sub-grid flow variables.So far,it remains unclear whether LFA would significantly compromise the reliability of hemodynamic simulation.In the present study,we addressed the issue in the context of a specific aortopathy,namely aortic dilation,which is usually accompanied by disturbed flow patterns.Three patient-specific aortas with treated/untreated dilation of the ascending segment were investigated,and their geometrical models were reconstructed from computed tomography angiographic images,with the boundary conditions being prescribed based on flow velocity information measured in vivo with the phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging technique.For the modeling of blood flow,apart from the traditional LFA-based method in which sub-grid flow dynamics is ignored,the large eddy simulation(LES)method capable of incorporating the dissipative energy loss induced by turbulent eddies at the sub-grid level,was adopted and taken as a reference for examining the performance of the LFA-based method.Obtained results showed that the simulated large-scale flow patterns with the two methods had high similarity,both agreeing well with in vivo measurements,although locally large between-method discrepancies in computed hemodynamic quantities existed in regions with high intensity of flow turbulence.Quantitatively,a switch from the LES to the LFAbased modeling method led to mild(<6%)changes in computed space-averaged wall shear stress metrics(i.e.,SA-TAWSS,SA-OSI)in the ascending aortic segment where intensive vortex evolution accompanied by high statistical Reynolds stress was observed.In addition,comparisons among the three aortas revealed that the treatment status of aortic dilation or the concomitant presence of aortic valve disease,despite its remarkable influence on flow patterns in the ascending aortic segment,did not significantly affect the degrees of discrepancies between the two modeling methods in predicting SA-TAWSS and SA-OSI.These findings suggest that aortic dilation per se does not induce strong flow turbulence that substantially negates the validity of LFA-based modeling,especially in simulating macro-scale hemodynamic features.

Numerical Study on the Unsteady Characteristics of the Propeller Cavitation in Uniform and Nonuniform Wake Flows

Propeller cavitation is a problematic issue because of its negative effects, such as performances losses, noise,vibration and erosion. Numerical methodology is an effective and efficient technical tool for the study of propeller cavitation, however, it is hard to capture tip-vortex cavitation in the previous work by using common turbulence models based on turbulent-viscosity hypothesis. In this work, the Reynolds-Averaged Naiver-Stokes(RANS)approach, adopting the Reynolds stress turbulence model(RSM), is taken to study the unsteady characteristics of the cavitation on the four-bladed INSEAN E779 A model propeller. The numerical simulation was carried out using the commercial CFD software ANSYS Fluent 14.0. One kind of uniform wake flow and two kinds of nonuniform wake flows are considered here. The results in the uniform flow show a good agreement with previous experimental results on both the sheet cavitation and the tip vortex cavitation and prove the ability of the RSM on capturing the tip vortex cavitation. Two kinds of nonuniform wake flows are designed based on the previous experimental researches and the unsteady characteristics of the propeller cavitation are analyzed by comparing the results in the uniform and two nonuniform wake flows together.

Numerical study of biomechanical characteristics of plaque rupture at stenosed carotid bifurcation:a stenosis mechanical property-specific guide for blood pressure control in daily activities

Acute stress concentration plays an important role in plaque rupture and may cause stroke or myocardial infarction.Quantitative evaluation of the relation between in vivo plaque stress and variations in blood pressure and flow rates is valuable to optimize daily monitoring of the cardiovascular system for high-risk patients as well as to set a safe physical exercise intensity for better quality of life.In this study,we constructed an in vivo stress model for a human carotid bifurcation with atherosclerotic plaque,and analyzed the effects of blood pressure,flow rates,plaque stiffness,and stenosis on the elastic stress and fluid viscous stress around the plaque.According to the maximum values of the mechanical stress,we define a risk index to predict the risk level of plaque rupture under different exercise intensities.For a carotid bifurcation where the blood flow divides,the results suggest that the stenosis ratio determines the ratio of the contributions of elastic shear stress and viscous shear stress to plaque rupture.A n increase of the plaque stiffness enhances the maximum elastic shear stress in the plaque,indicating that a high-stiffness plaque is more prone to rupture for given stenosis ratio.High stress co-localization at the shoulder of plaques agrees with the region of plaque injury in clinical observations.It is demonstrated that,due to the stress-shield effect,the rupture risk of a high-stiffness plaque tends to decrease under high-stenosis conditions,suggesting the existence of a specific stenosis corresponding to the maximum risk.This study may help to complement risk stratification of vulnerable plaques in clinical practice and provides a stenosis mechanical property-specific guide for blood pressure control in cardiovascular health management.

A review on flow-induced vibration of offshore circular cylinders

As a fundamental fluid-structure interaction(FSI)phenomenon,vortex-induced vibrations(VIVs)of circular cylinders have been the center of the FSI research in the past several decades.Apart from its scientific significance in rich physics,VIVs are paid great attentions by offshore engineers,as they are encountered in many ocean engineering applications.Recently,with the development of research and application,wake-induced vibration(WIV)for multiple cylinders and galloping for VIV suppression attachments are attracting a growing research interest.All these phenomena are connected with the flow-induced vibration(FIV).In this paper,we review and give some discussions on the FIV of offshore circular cylinders,including the research progress on the basic VIV mechanism of an isolated rigid or flexible cylinder,interference of multiple cylinders concerning WIV of multiple cylinders,practical VIV suppression and unwanted galloping for cylinder of attachments.Finally,we draw concluding remarks,give some comments and propose future research prospects,especially on the major challenges as well as potentials in the offline/online modelling and prediction of real-scale offshore structures with high-fidelity CFD methods,new experimental facilities and applications of artificial intelligence tools.

Two-phase SPH simulation of vertical water entry of a two-dimensional structure

In view of the fact that the SPH model is easy to handle the flows with the free surface of large deformation, a 2-D flow induced by vertical water entry of a 2-D structure is simulated using the two-phase SPH model. The local pressure of the boundary particles is obtained by pressure of the fluid particles nearby through a modified kernel approximation. To evaluate the accuracy of the method, water entry of a 2-D symmetric wedge with fixed separation point of the free surface on the wedge surface is simulated. The pressure distribution of the wedge at the initial stage agrees well with the analytical results available. Evolution of the free surface and the air flow in the cavity induced by the water entry are obtained. A higher speed air jet is found at the neck of the cavity when the neck of the cavity becomes smaller. For the case of a horizontal cylinder entering the water with an unknown separation point of flow on the model surface, the early stage of the water entry is simulated for the rigid body with different density. Evolution of the free surface deformation of the half-buoyant cylinder and neutrally buoyant cylinder water entry is compared with the experimental data. The effects of the density ratio and Froude number on the pinch-off of the cavity are discussed. It is found that the pinch-off time remains almost constant for different density ratio and Froude number. Meanwhile, for a given Froude number, the dimensionless pinch-off depth and the location of the cylinder at the time of pinch-off increase with the density ratio. Further, for a given density ratio, these two parameters increase with the Froude number and, however, the relative cavity shape appears to be a self-similar shape when Fr ≥8.35.

Detached-eddy simulation of turbulent coherent structures around groynes in a trapezoidal open channel

The hydrodynamics in a straight open channel with a multiple-embayment groyne field was investigated using the detached-eddy simulation(DES).A series of short groynes were included on a 1:3 side slope of the channel.This work focuses on the turbulent coherent structures around groynes on an uneven bottom.Flows around groyne fields are characterized by massive separation and highly unsteady vortices.DES can capture a wide spectrum of eddies at a lower computational cost than the large eddy simulation(LES)or direct numerical simulation(DNS).In the present work,a zonal DES model(ZDES)was used to simulate the flow around groynes.The ZDES model is a modified version of the DES designed to overcome the model-stress depletion(MSD)of the RANS/LES hybrid model.The vortex system consists of the horseshoe vortex(HV)formed at the base of the obstructions,the necklace vortex(NV)that wrapped the groyne tips near the free surface,and the shedding vortex(SV)underneath the free surface.The effects of the incident flow and local topography on the vortex evolution were investigated by analyzing the mean flow structures and the instantaneous turbulent flow fields.Some important vortices cannot be captured because of the averaging process,while some flow structures cannot be observed in the instantaneous flow.The mean flow is only a reflection of the averaging process when complex vortices are present.

An improved boundary element method for modelling a self-reacting point absorber wave energy converter

A numerical model based on a boundary element method (BEM) is developed to predict the performance of two-body selfreacting floating-point absorber (SRFPA) wave energy systems that operate predominantly in heave.The key numerical issues in applying the BEM are systematically discussed.In particular,some improvements and simplifications in the numerical scheme are developed to evaluate the free surface Green's function,which is a main element of difficulty in the BEM.For a locked SRFPA system,the present method is compared with the existing experiment and the Reynolds-averaged NavierStokes (RANS)-based method,where it is shown that the inviscid assumption leads to substantial over-prediction of the heave response.For the unlocked SRFPA model we study in this paper,the additional viscous damping primarily induced by flow separation and vortex shedding,is modelled as a quadratic drag force,which is proportional to the square of body velocity.The inclusion of viscous drag in present method significantly improves the prediction of the heave responses and the power absorption performance of the SRFPA system,obtaining results excellent agreement with experimental data and the RANS simulation results over a broad range of incident wave periods,except near resonance in larger wave height scenarios.It is found that the wave overtopping and the re-entering impact of out-of-water floating body are observed more frequently in larger waves,where these non-linear effects are the dominant damping sources and could significantly reduce the power output and the motion responses of the SRFPA system.

Effective enhanced model for a large deformable soft pneumatic actuator

Soft pneumatic actuators have been widely used for implementing sophisticated and dexterous movements,due to numerous fascinating features compared with their rigid counterparts.Relatively speaking,modeling and analysis of an entire soft pneumatic actuator considering contact interaction between two adjacent air chambers is extremely rare,which is exactly what we are particularly interested in.Therefore,in order to establish an accurate mechanical model and analyze the overall configuration and stress distribution for the soft pneumatic actuator with large deflection,we consider the contact interaction of soft materials rather than hard materials,to produce an effective enhanced model for soft contact of a large deformable pneumatic actuator.In this article,a multiple-point contact approach is developed to circumvent the mutual penetration problem between adjacent air chambers of the soft actuator that occurs with the single-point contact approach employed in linear elastic rigid materials.In contrast to the previous simplified rod-based model that did not focus on contact interaction which was adopted to clarify the entire deformation of the actuator,the present model not only elaborates nonlinear large deformation and overall configuration variations,but also accurately delineates stress distribution law inside the chamber structure and the stress concentration phenomenon.By means of a corresponding static experiment,a comparison of the simulation results with experimental data validates the effectiveness and accuracy of this model employing a multiple-point contact approach.Excellent simulation of the actual bending deformation of the soft actuator is obtained,while mutual penetration is successfully circumvented,whereas the model with single-point contact cannot achieve those goals.Finally,as compared with the rod-based model,the results obtained using the proposed model are more consistent with experimental data,and simulation precision is improved.

Time-Dependent Tsunami Source Following the 2018 Anak Krakatau Volcano Eruption Inferred from Nearby Tsunami Recordings

The eruption of the Anak Krakatau volcano,Indonesia,on 22 December 2018 induced a destructive tsunami(the Sunda Strait tsunami),which was recorded by four nearby tidal gauges.In this study we invert the tsunami records and recover the tsunami generation process.Two tsunami sources are obtained,a static one of instant initial water elevation and a time-dependent one accounting for the continuous evolution of water height.The time-dependent results are found to reproduce the tsunami recordings more satisfactorily.The complete tsunami generation process lasts approximately 9 min and features a two-stage evolution with similar intensity.Each stage lasts about 3.5 min and elevates a water volume of about 0.13 km3.The time,duration and volume of the volcano eruption in general agree with seismic records and geomorphological interpretations.We also test different sizes of the potential source region,which lead to different maximum wave height in the source area,but all the results of time-dependent tsunami sources show the robust feature of two stages of wave generation.Our results imply a time-dependent and complex process of tsunami generation during the volcano eruption.

Effect of Defectors on the Flow Characteristics of a Square Pipe with a 90 Bend

Pipe fow is a classic hydrodynamic issue.Most pipelines contain bends,and bends cause energy loss and distort the flow because of secondary flow.Deflectors are often used to adjust the flow quality in a bend.Inthis study,a numerical simulatiou using ANSYS Eluent 19.0 is used to analvze the effects of the deflector number.location and angle on the flow characteristics of a square pipe with a 90°bend.The velocity non-uniformity and the head loss are analyzed quantitatively.The secondary flow is presented visually,and its evolution characteristics are assessed.An optimized installation scheme for the deflectors is discussed,and a reference is provided for controlling the fow quality in bends via deflectors.

Numerical investigation of the ship propeller load under reversed propulsion condition

Stopping maneuver is an important research topic in ship maneuverability.The stopping ability of ship is not only related to the hydrodynamic characteristics of hull,rudder and propeller,but also related to the capacity of main engine.However,there are few researches on the capacity of main engine under reversed propulsion condition.In the paper,a numerical water tank is established to simulate the propeller loads using the computational fluid dynamics(CFD)software STAR CCM+.The numerical model is firstly validated by experimental data,and then is used to investigate the propeller loads on a full-scale model with different ship speed and propeller speed.By dimensionless,the relations between the advance coefficient and the load coefficients are shown as J-KT curves and J-KQ curves.Furtherly,the flow structures near the propeller and the pressure on the propeller with different J values are investigated.The simulations reveal that the flow velocities induced by the reversed propulsion of the propeller is similar to the wake flow by ship with J=-0.49.That is the reason for the minimum points of J-KT and J-KQ curve occurring in cases with J=-0.49.Subsequently,the capacity of the main engine and the output load of the propeller are considered comprehensively.The relations between the ship speeds and the maximum output loads on the propeller are discussed in details.

微循环中红细胞传质效率的数值分析

目的揭示不同直径血管中复杂细胞运动形态对于传质的影响,有助于对人体内物质跨膜输运机制的理解。此外,作为潜在的药物输运载体,了解红细胞运动变形与传质之间的关系有助于设计更有效的药物传输方式。方法基于之前提出的浸入边界数值方法,对微循环复杂流动影响下的单细胞传质特性进行数值分析,讨论了细胞膜渗透系数、管道直径。

Numerical investigation of shallow wake behind a patch of rigid emergent vegetation

The shallow water flow through and around a patch of rigid emergent vegetation was investigated numerically. The mean flow field and turbulent structures were studied, especially their dependence on the solid volume fraction (SVF) of the patch and the bed friction. Two streamwise velocity scales, U1s at the starting point of the steady wake and U1e at the downstream end of the steady wake, and the length of the steady wake L1 were used to describe the steady wake behind the patch. U1s was found to be related to SVF only. However, U1e and L1 were influenced by both the SVF and the wake stability parameter S. For a sparse patch, U1e was equal to U1s, and L1 decreased with the increase of S. For a mid-dense patch, U1e was always smaller than U1s, and it increased with S and gradually approached U1s. The increase of U1e reduced the lateral velocity difference between the flows inside and outside the wake, which resulted in the increase of L1. For a highly dense patch, U1e and L1 did not increase unless S was larger than a critical value. A new parameter, r, was proposed to represent the development rate of the steady wake. The numerical results showed that r increased monotonously with S for mid-dense patches.

A numerical method to predict the membrane tension distribution of spreading cells based on the reconstruction of focal adhesions

Changes in membrane tension significantly affect the physiological functions of cells in various ways.However,directly measuring the spatial distribution of membrane tension remains an ongoing issue.In this study,an algorithm is proposed to determine the membrane tension inversely by executing a particle-based method and searching for the minimum deformation energy based on the cell images and focal adhesions.A standard spreading cell model is established using 3D reconstructions with images from structured illumination microscopy as the reference cell shape.The membrane tension distribution,forces across focal adhesions,and profile of the spread cell are obtained using this method,until the cell deformation energy function optimization converges.Qualitative and quantitative comparisons with previous experimental results validated the reliability of this method.The results show that in the standard spreading cell model,the membrane tension decreases from the bottom to the top of the membrane.This method can be applied to predict the membrane tension distribution of cells freely spreading into different shapes,which could improve the quantitative analysis of cellular membrane tension in various studies for cell mechanics.

Tsunamis and tsunami warning:Recent progress and future prospects

Tsunamis are one of the most destructive disasters in the ocean.Large tsunamis are mostly generated by earthquakes,and they can propagate across the ocean without significantly losing energy.During the shoaling process in coastal areas,the wave amplitude increases dramatically,causing severe life loss and property damage.There have been frequent tsunamis since the 21 st century,drawing the attention of many countries on the study of tsunami mechanism and warning.Tsunami records also play an essential role in deriving earthquake rupture models in subduction zones.This paper reviews the recent progress and limitations of tsunami research,from the aspects of tsunami generation,propagation,inversion and warning.Potential tsunami warning strategies are discussed and future prospects on tsunami research are provided.