CFD SIMULATION OF AIRFLOW AND AEROSOL TRANSPORT IN HUMAN ALVEOATED AIRWAYS

这个子项目是许多研究子项目中的一个 由NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源。子项目和 研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金， 因此可在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为 研究中心，而研究中心不一定是研究者所在的机构。 本提案的主要目标是利用SDSC的高性能计算（HPC）资源和计算流体动力学（CFD）软件来模拟人体气道中的气流和气溶胶传输。环境中颗粒物暴露与人体健康之间存在着广泛的联系。对生物战的日益认识和吸入给药的日益使用也强调需要更好地了解吸入气溶胶在人肺中的命运。在过去，大多数关于人肺中气溶胶转运的研究都集中在上呼吸道和大呼吸道。关于肺泡小气道的数据非常有限，并且对于那些现有的研究，存在严重的限制，例如刚性壁、2D几何形状或无分叉的假设。我们在加州大学圣地亚哥分校的研究小组最近开发了具有顺应性壁的三维、肺泡和分叉气道的初步最先进模型。使用台式计算机进行的初步模拟产生了一些有趣而重要的结果。然而，台式计算机的计算能力严重限制了现实和高度显著的结果的有效产生。因此，我们建议使用SDSC的计算资源，以帮助实现我们的研究目标。本提案的PI在另一个超级计算中心使用CFD软件（Fluent）和HPC资源方面拥有超过三年的丰富知识，专注于当前的相关项目。在这个项目中，我们计划继续使用Fluent软件，该软件已经安装在SDSC计算机上，并且许可证目前可用。在以前的经验与软件非常好的并行性能已被观察到。因此，可以预期，作为该提议的结果，将出现计算资源和软件的高效使用以及非常重要的研究结果。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The primary objective of this proposal is to use the high performance computing (HPC) resources and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software at SDSC to simulate the airflow and aerosol transport in human airways. There have been extensive evidences linking the exposure to particulate matter in environment to human health. The increasingly awareness of biological warfare and the increasing use of inhalation drug delivery also emphasize the need to better understand the fate of inhaled aerosols in the human lung. In the past a majority of studies on aerosol transport in the human lung have focused on the upper and large airways. Data on alveolated small airways have been very limited, and for those existing studies there are serious limitations such as assumption of rigid wall, 2D geometry, or no bifurcation. Our research group at UCSD has recently developed preliminary state-of-the-art models of three-dimensional, alveolated, and bifurcated airways with compliant walls. Initial simulations using a desktop computer have produced some interesting and important results. However, the computing power of the desktop computer seriously limits the efficient production of realistic and highly significant results. Therefore, we propose to use the computing resources at SDSC to help realize our research objectives. The PI of this proposal has more than three years of extensive knowledge of using CFD software (Fluent) with HPC resources at another supercomputing center, focusing on a related project as the current one. In this project we plan to continue to use Fluent software, which was already installed on SDSC computers and licenses are currently available. In the previous experience with the software very good parallel performance has been observed. Therefore, it is expected that highly efficient use of the computing resources and software and highly significant research results will occur as a result of this proposal.