High resolution turbulence modelling of airflow in an idealised human extra-thoracic airway

Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) studies of the flow inside a modelled human extra-thoracic airway (ETA) were conducted to evaluate the performance of several turbulence models in predicting flow inside this complex geometry. Veracity of the computational models is assessed for physiologically accurate flow rates of 10, 15, and 30 l/min by comparison of numerical results with hot-wire [Johnstone A, Uddin M, Pollard A, Heenan A, Finlay WH. The flow inside an idealised form of the human extra-thoracic airway. Exp Fluids 2004;37(5):673–89] and particle image velocimetry (PIV) [Heenan AF, Matida E, Pollard A, Finlay WH. Experimental measurements and computational modelling of the flow field in an idealised extra-thoracic airway. Exp Fluids 2003;35:70–84] mean velocity data for the central sagittal plane of the ETA. Furthermore, flow features predicted by numerical models are compared to those from experimental flow-visualisation studies [Johnstone et al., 2004]. The flow in the ETA is shown to be highly three-dimensional, having strong secondary flows.