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Fatahi, H.,
Dastan, A.,
Sadrizadeh, S.,
Abouali, O. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology (16177959)
Nasal hairs, often overlooked in human respiratory system studies, can be a decisive factor in maintaining respiratory health. Vibrissae can capture a certain range of particle sizes due to their filtering function, while they may also contribute to more breathing resistance. In this study, the role of nasal hairs in particle filtration and pressure drop within the nasal vestibule was investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Seven nasal hair specifications were examined in simplified human nasal vestibule models under steady laminar flow conditions at two airflow rates of 10 and 15 L/min. The deposition of microparticles in the simulated geometries was also numerically studied. The simulation results showed that the investigated nasal hairs lead to about a 2–20 Pa increase in the pressure drop, depending on the hair specifications and airflow rates. The associated growth in nasal resistance could potentially influence breathing comfort. Additionally, nasal hair was shown to enhance particle filtration, with the deposition fraction of particles correlating with the projected area of the hairs on a normal plane to the flow direction, which goes up by an increase in the number of hairs or their length. These findings clarify the significance of nasal hairs in the respiratory system and aim to balance the trade-off between improved particle filtration and increased breathing resistance due to nasal hairs. The acquired knowledge can be used in recommendations to different individuals regarding nasal hair trimming based on their health conditions. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2025.
Rezazadeh, M.R.,
Dastan, A.,
Sadrizadeh, S.,
Abouali, O. Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing (17410444)62(10)pp. 3025-3041
The impact of drug delivery and particulate matter exposure on the human respiratory tract is influenced by various anatomical and physiological factors, particularly the structure of the respiratory tract and its fluid dynamics. This study employs computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to investigate airflow in two 3D models of the human air conducting zone. The first model uses a combination of CT-scan images and geometrical data from human cadaver to extract the upper and central airways down to the ninth generation, while the second model develops the lung airways from the first Carina to the end of the ninth generation using Kitaoka’s deterministic algorithm. The study examines the differences in geometrical characteristics, airflow rates, velocity, Reynolds number, and pressure drops of both models in the inhalation and exhalation phases for different lobes and generations of the airways. From trachea to the ninth generation, the average air flowrates and Reynolds numbers exponentially decay in both models during inhalation and exhalation. The steady drop is the case for the average air velocity in Kitaoka’s model, while that experiences a maximum in the 3rd or 4th generation in the quasi-realistic model. Besides, it is shown that the flow field remains laminar in the upper and central airways up to the total flow rate of 15 l/min. The results of this work can contribute to the understanding of flow behavior in upper respiratory tract. Graphical Abstract: (Figure presented.) © International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering 2024.
Davari F.,
Isfahani, M.T.,
Atighechian A.,
Ghobadian E.,
Dastan, A.,
Abouali, O.,
Ahmadi, G. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making (14726947)(1)pp. 132-149
Objective: Overcrowding and extended waiting times in emergency departments are a pervasive issue, leading to patient dissatisfaction. This study aims to compare the efficacy of two process mining and simulation models in identifying bottlenecks and optimizing patient flow in the emergency department of Al-Zahra Hospital in Isfahan. The ultimate goal is to reduce patient waiting times and alleviate population density, ultimately enhancing the overall patient experience. Methods: This study employed a descriptive, applied, cross-sectional, and retrospective design. The study population consisted of 39,264 individuals referred to Al-Zahra Hospital, with a sample size of at least 1,275 participants, selected using systematic random sampling at a confidence level of 99%. Data were collected through a questionnaire and the Hospital Information System (HIS). Statistical analysis was conducted using Excel software, with a focus on time-averaged data. Two methods of simulation and process mining were utilized to analyze the data. First, the model was run 1000 times using ARENA software, with simulation techniques. In the second step, the emergency process model was discovered using process mining techniques through Access software, and statistical analysis was performed on the event log. The relationships between the data were identified, and the discovered model was analyzed using the Fuzzy Miner algorithm and Disco tool. Finally, the results of the two models were compared, and proposed scenarios to reduce patient waiting times were examined using simulation techniques. Results: The analysis of the current emergency process at Al-Zahra Hospital revealed that the major bottlenecks in the process are related to waiting times, inefficient implementation of doctor’s orders, delays in recording patient test results, and congestion at the discharge station. Notably, the process mining exercise corroborated the findings from the simulation, providing a comprehensive understanding of the inefficiencies in the emergency process. Next, 34 potential solutions were proposed to reduce waiting times and alleviate these bottlenecks. These solutions were simulated using Arena software, allowing for a comprehensive evaluation of their effectiveness. The results were then compared to identify the most promising strategies for improving the emergency process. Conclusion: In conclusion, the results of this research demonstrate the effectiveness of using simulation techniques and process mining in making informed, data-driven decisions that align with available resources and conditions. By leveraging these tools, unnecessary waste and additional expenses can be significantly reduced. The comparative analysis of the 34 proposed scenarios revealed that two solutions stood out as the most effective in improving the emergency process. Scenario 19, which involves dedicating two personnel to jointly referring patients to the ward, and scenario 34, which creates a dedicated discharge hall, have the potential to create a more favorable situation. © The Author(s) 2024.
Dastan, A.,
Rahiminejad, M.,
Sabz, M.,
Abbasi, M.,
Mokhtari, A.,
Sadrizadeh, S.,
Abouali, O. Underground Space (new) (20962754)11pp. 153-170
In the present work, a semi-transverse ventilation system in a long tunnel with a length of 4.9 km, as a complex case study, is numerically studied by performing a set of three-dimensional steady incompressible computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The ventilation system consisted of a ceiling duct connected to two axial fans at the ending portals, and a series of jet fans in the main tunnel for supporting airflow in the desired direction. To focus on what can and cannot be achieved in commissioning tests, the ventilation system's performance in various scenarios is numerically evaluated with two different tunnel states; empty tunnel and complete traffic congestion with 1176 stationary vehicles – which is almost impossible to evaluate during a commissioning test. By considering two hypothetical locations for the extraction zone from the main tunnel (in a distance of 450 and 1000 m from one portal), it is shown that the required number of jet fans in a traffic condition drops from 57 for the first extraction location to 43 (25% decrease) when the ventilation system extracts from the second zone. We show that if only the close axial fan to the extraction zone is activated, the required number of jet fans reduces by 56% and 72% for the first and second extraction locations, respectively. This finding can provide a cheaper and easier controlling scenario for emergency ventilation. © 2023 Tongji University
Dastan, A.,
Rahiminejad, M.,
Abbasi, M.,
Abouali, O. pp. 4759-4768
Ventilation system in tunnels is of a great importance in providing a safe condition for the people passing through the tunnel in both normal and emergency situations. This is usually performed by injecting fresh air into the tunnel and removing hazardous gases. In this research, the longitudinal ventilation of a 5-kilometer tunnel constructed in the Tehran-North freeway project, Iran, through straight jetfans is investigated. The effects of full congested traffic on the airflow rate imposed by the jetfans in this one-directional tunnel, and therefore, the function of ventilation system in removing the exhaust gases are studied. A 3D realistic computational domain for the tunnel with about 1100 stationary vehicles is developed and CFD simulations are performed. The results showed the traffic arrangement and the location of large vehicles in the tunnel has a significant impact on the performance of the ventilation system. The CFD data also suggested that the designed system is likely to fail in removing heat generated by the stationary vehicles in the tunnel and providing a safe condition for the passengers. © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, London.
Dastan, A.,
Matsumoto, E.A.,
Frith, W.J.,
Cleaver, D.J. Molecular Physics (00268976)116(21-22)pp. 2823-2835
Hierarchical self-assembly underpins much of the diversity of form and function seen in soft systems, yet the pathways by which they achieve their final form are not always straightforward–intermediate steps, kinetic effects and finite sizes of aggregates all influence the self-assembly pathways of these systems. In this paper, we use molecular dynamics simulations of binary mixtures of spheres and ellipsoidal discs to investigate the self-assembly of anisotropic aggregates with internal structures. Through this, the full aggregation pathways of spontaneously chiral, multi-bilayer and multi-layer assemblies have been tracked and characterised via a semi-qualitative analysis. This includes the unambiguous identification of first-, second- and third-generation hierarchical assemblies within a single simulation. Given the significant challenge of tracking full aggregation pathways in experimental systems, our findings strongly support the notion that molecular simulation has much to contribute to improving our understanding of hierarchical self-assembling systems. © 2018, © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Journal of Physical Chemistry B (15205207)121(42)pp. 9920-9928
In this paper, molecular dynamics simulations of simple disc-shaped particles are used to investigate the free self-assembly of defect-free fibers. Depending on the choice of particle shape and interaction strength, the formed fibers are reproducibly either straight or, for reasons of packing efficiency, spontaneously chiral. As they grow radially, increasing stresses cause chiral fibers to untwist either continuously or via morphological rearrangement. It is also found that, due to the kinetics of fiber initiation, the isotropic solution has to be significantly supercooled before aggregation takes place. As a result, the thermal hysteresis of one formed fiber extends to 13.9% of the formation temperature. In the presence of a three-thread seed cluster of 15 particles, however, monotonic fiber growth is observed 9.3% above the normal formation temperature. Thus, as in many experimental systems, it is the kinetic pathway, rather than the thermodynamic stability of the final assembly, that dominates the observed behavior. © 2017 American Chemical Society.
Rahiminejad, M.,
Haghighi, A.,
Dastan, A.,
Abouali, O.,
Farid, M.,
Ahmadi, G. Computers in Biology and Medicine (00104825)71pp. 115-127
In this paper, the airflow field including the velocity, pressure and turbulence intensity distributions during sneezing of a female subject was simulated using a computational fluid dynamics model of realistic upper airways including both oral and nasal cavities. The effects of variation of reaction of the subject during sneezing were also investigated. That is, the impacts of holding the nose or closing the mouth during sneezing on the pressure and velocity distributions were studied. Few works have studied the sneeze and therefore different aspects of this phenomenon have remained unknown. To cover more possibilities about the inlet condition of trachea in different sneeze scenarios, it was assumed that the suppressed sneeze happens with either the same inlet pressure or the same flow rate as the normal sneeze. The simulation results showed that during a normal sneeze, the pressure in the trachea reaches about 7000 Pa, which is much higher than the pressure level of about 200 Pa during the high activity exhalation. In addition, the results showed that, suppressing the sneeze by holding the nose or mouth leads to a noticeable increase in pressure difference in the tract. This increase was about 5 to 24 times of that during a normal sneeze. This significant rise in the pressure can justify some reported damage due to suppressing a sneeze. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd.
Eftekharian, E.,
Dastan, A.,
Abouali, O.,
Meigolinedjad, J.,
Ahmadi, G. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology (08867798)44pp. 56-67
Recent increase in construction of road tunnels in cities, has increased the need for effective ventilation for removing toxic gases emitted by vehicles from the tunnels especially during traffic jams. Severe traffic jam is an inevitable part of the urban life. The objective of this study is to investigate the ventilation effectiveness of the Banana® jet fan and the traditional straight jet fan and also to compare their performance in exhausting the vehicle emissions in severe traffic condition from the tunnel. The effects of adverse wind blowing into the tunnel outlet portal and the impact of mountain blocks, located at the tunnel inlet and outlet, on the airflow field are also investigated. The standard k- ε turbulence model was used in the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis to simulate the ventilation airflow in a 919. m tunnel. For severe congested traffic condition, the simulation results show that the tunnel airflow rate induced by Banana® and traditional jet fans is roughly the same. This leads to an almost similar average of Carbon Monoxide (CO) concentration at the tunnel exit. The performance of the Banana® jet fans, however, is more desirable regarding the local concentration of CO near the human breathing zone of the tunnel. Moreover, it is shown that the effect of adverse wind in decreasing the tunnel airflow rate predicted by the present simulations is much stronger compared with that suggested by the current engineering design approach. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
Journal of Aerosol Science (18791964)69pp. 132-149
In this study, CFD simulations of fibrous particle deposition in different realistic human nasal cavities were performed. The airflow field in the cavity was evaluated by solving the Navier-Stokes and continuity equations using commercial software, while a Lagrangian trajectory analysis approach for solving the coupled translational and rotational equations of motion of ellipsoids was developed and used to investigate fiber transport and deposition in the nasal passages. Different breathing rates in the laminar flow regime in the nose and a range of fiber lengths and diameters were used in these simulations. It was shown that the aerodynamic diameter based on the Stokes equivalent diameter is an appropriate parameter for correlating the fiber deposition rate. Presenting the deposition fraction results versus the Stokes-based and pressure-based impaction parameters collapsed the results of different cases for various nose models roughly to a single curve. The simulated regional fiber deposition results were also presented for different nasal cavities. A simple approach developed earlier for modeling non-spherical particles using the shape factor in the drag force was also studied, and the resulting deposition fraction was compared with the present coupled translational-rotational trajectory analysis approach. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.
Computers and Fluids (00457930)71pp. 28-40
A general computer code which solves the motion equations of non-spherical ellipsoidal particles in the fluid flow was developed and fiber motion and web formation at the channel entrance of a microchannel heat sink were investigated numerically. A circular inlet duct, inlet plenum and 15 parallel channels with hydraulic diameter of 225 μm were considered as the computational domain. Water flow field in the microchannel was solved with Eulerian approach. Fiber motion equations consisting of translational and rotational motions were solved by Lagrangian approach assuming a one-way interaction. The numerical approach was validated for different aspects of the model and close agreement was obtained in comparison with experimental and other numerical data. The objective of the present work is to simulate the formation of fiber web at the entrance of the channels, as well as studying the effects of deposited fibers on the flow field and deposition of next fibers. The results show that, the deposited fibers act as a filter that can lead to deposition of more fibers at the channel entrance. The growth of fiber web in time reported in previous experimental works was also observed in this numerical investigation. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Fluids Engineering Division (Publication) FEDSM (08888116)1(PARTS A AND B)pp. 839-846
In this paper, the motion and deposition of micro fibers in different regions of a realistic human nasal airway were studied using a computational modeling approach. The airflow field in the nasal cavity was simulated by solving the Navier-Stokes and continuity equations. The coupled translational and rotation motion of the fibers were analyzed by a Lagrangian approach assuming one-way coupling. The fibers were assumed to be ellipsoids and a computer code was developed for solving the coupled translational and rotational equations of motion of the ellipsoidal fiber. A large number of fibers were injected at the nostril and the deposition pattern and deposition fraction (DF) of the fibers in different regions of the nasal cavity were evaluated for different breathing rates, various fiber diameters and different fiber aspect ratios. The simulation results for ellipsoidal fibers obtained by solving the coupled translational and rotational equations were compared with those obtained by solving only the translational equations of equivalent spherical particles with a shape factor, which were used in some earlier works. Copyright © 2012 by ASME.
Heat Transfer Engineering (15210537)32(7-8)pp. 554-565
In this paper, pressure drop, heat transfer characteristics, and particle deposition in a microchannel with a fiber web at the inlet are investigated numerically. The fiber web was made up of fibers several hundred micrometers in length caught at the entrance of the channels. Governing equations for the flow field are solved by an Eulerian approach, while the equations of particle motion in the flow are solved by a Lagrangian approach. Assuming the symmetry in the domain, one channel and the corresponding inlet and outlet plenums are selected as the computational domain. Several fiber webs with various fiber numbers, orientations, and dimensions are modeled. The increase in the pressure drop and the decrease of heat transfer due to the fiber web are computed and discussed. A correlation is developed for pressure drop as a function of the fiber web blockage ratio, microchannel geometry, and flow characteristics. The deposition of the microparticles with various diameters on the fiber webs is investigated, as well. Deposition of the particles on the fiber web is because of two different mechanisms, inertial impaction and interception. The numerical results indicate that the fiber webs have no considerable effect on the heat transfer characteristic of the channel under constant pumping power. Copyright © Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
(PARTS A AND B)pp. 1547-1554
In this paper the motion of micro fibers in a microchannel is studied numerically. The liquid flow regime is considered to be laminar and it is assumed that the fluid and the fibers have a one-way interaction meaning the effects of fibers on the flow are neglected. An inlet plenum of the microchannel with 15 channels considered as the physical domain. The fluid flow in the model is solved numerically by an Eulerian approach using the conventional SIMPLE algorithm. To study the motion of the micro fibers in the flow, the fibers are considered to be ellipsoids of revolution. A code is developed which uses the fluid flow results and solves the equations of ellipsoid motion in a Lagrangian reference frame. The equations of ellipsoid motion consist of three equations for the translational motion and three equations for the rotational motion. The equations are integrated numerically to find the trajectory and the orientation of the micro fibers in the microchannel. Copyright © 2010 by ASME.
In this paper pressure drop and particle deposition in a microchannel with a hydraulic diameter of 225 micrometer is investigated numerically. Several hundred micron length fibers caught at the entrance of the channels making a "fiber web" also is modeled in this research. Governing equations for the flow field are solved with an Eulerian approach while the equations of particle motion in the flow are solved by a Lagrangian approach. Assuming the symmetry in the domain, one channel and the corresponding plenum are studied in the computational domain. For studying the effects of fibers in the flow, two fiber webs with four and six solid fibers are studied. The increase of pressure drop in the microchannel because of the entrance fiber web is computed and discussed. Also deposition and collection of the particles with various diameters at the fiber webs are also presented. Copyright © 2009 by ASME.
