Shear flow over a self-similar expanding pulmonary alveolus during rhythmical breathing (Q4494496)

An analytical model of acinar fluid mechanics in a rhythmically expanding spherical alveolus and in its vicinity has been developed by investigating alternating shear flow over a self-similar, rhythically expanding hemispherical depression. The study aims at elucidating the basic physics operating on inhaled particles in the lung periphery. The flow is assumed to be very slow, and is governed by steady quasi-linear Stokes equations. The flow field can be described as a superposition of a flow generated by rhythmically expanding spherical cap which is attached at its rim to a circular opening in an expanding unbounded plane bounding a semi-infinite fluid region, and of an alternating shear flow encountering a rigid hemispherical carity in a plane bounding a semi-infinite fluid domain. The self-similarity of the configuration of the system is maintained by properly choosing the rate of expansion of the cap and the plane. The authors show that a streamfunction representation employing toroidal coordinates yields an analytical solution for the flow field generated by a rhythmically expanding spherical cap (the alveolus). The linear superposition of this solution with numerical solution presented by \textit{C. Pozrikidis} [Phys. Fluids 6, No. 1, 68-79 (1994; Zbl 0834.76020)] indicates that there is an unexpected level of complexity of aerosol mixing due to the unique geometric features. The results also suggest that radially new mechanisms of mixing, such as chaotic mixing, operate in the acinar region.