Research

Bio fluids high performance simulation

Principal investigator: Eldad AVITAL
Co-investigator(s): , , J. Green, E. Kaliviotis, G. Hosseini and D. Xu

Red blood cell flow in a small blood vesselBio-fluids are of great computational challenge. They involve complex geometry, two phase flows and non-Newtonian fluid properties. Developing the ability to predict these flows accurately and investigate their behaviour promises a new way of understanding abnormal conditions and development of remedies by reducing the time required for development and the amount of actual experimentation. Our activity has included the following topics: 1. Red blood cell flow: A highly challenging flow which involves interaction between flexible moving particles (the cells). A leading computational technology has been developed coupling low speed Large Eddy Simulation with Discrete Element Method (DEM) using the Immersed Boundary Method. Interaction between the blood cells has been modelled and red blood cell flow has been investigated for aggregation and packing as part of EC fellowships of Dr. Xu and collaborated between Profs. Williams, Munjiza, Dr. Avital and Dr. Kaliviotis of Kings College (Xu et al., J. biomech, 2013) 2. Urinary flow: The flow in the ureter muscle connecting the kidney to the bladder is of significant importance for healthy function of the body. In this project we have been developing highly accurate simulations using our LES-DEM code in collaboration with Whipps Cross University Hospital to investigate the behaviour of a healthy ureter aiming at developing a platform that will enable to investigate abnormal conditions and medical intervention virtually. This project is being carried out by Ms. Hosseini and collaborated between Profs. Williams, Munjiza, Dr. Avital and Dr. Green of Whipps Cross (Critical Reviews Biomedical Eng).