Force and torque on spherical particles in micro-channel flows using computational fluid dynamics

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jin Suo, Emory University; Erin E. Edwards, Emory University; Ananyaveena Anilkumar, Emory University; Todd Sulchek, Emory University; Don Giddens, Emory University; Susan N. Thomas, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2016-07-27
• Publisher: Royal Society, The: Open Access
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2016 The Authors.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.160298
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Royal Society Open Science
• ISSN: 2054-5703
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 7
• Start Page: 160298
• End Page: 160298
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by a research partnership between Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and the Georgia Institute of Technology (S.N.T., D.P.G.), National Science Foundation Award 1342194 (S.N.T.), the Cell and Tissue Engineering National Institutes of Health Biotechnology Training Grant T32 GM-008433 (E.E.E.), and PHS grant no. UL1TR000454 from the Clinical and Translational Science Award Program, National Institutes of Health, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (S.N.T.).
• Keywords: microfluidic; hemodynamic force; cell adhesion; computational fluid dynamics
• Research Categories: Biophysics, General; Engineering, Biomedical; Engineering, Mechanical

Abstract

To delineate the influence of hemodynamic force on cell adhesion processes, model in vitro fluidic assays that mimic physiological conditions are commonly employed. Herein, we offer a framework for solution of the three-dimensional Navier- Stokes equations using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to estimate the forces resulting from fluid flow near a plane acting on a sphere that is either stationary or in free flow, and we compare these results to a widely used theoretical model that assumes Stokes flow with a constant shear rate. We find that while the full three-dimensional solutions using a parabolic velocity profile in CFD simulations yield similar translational velocities to those predicted by the theoretical method, the CFD approach results in approximately 50% larger rotational velocities over the wall shear stress range of 0.1-5.0 dynes cm-2. This leads to an approximately 25% difference in force and torque calculations between the two methods. When compared with experimental measurements of translational and rotational velocities of microspheres or cells perfused in microfluidic channels, the CFD simulations yield significantly less error. We propose that CFD modelling can provide better estimations of hemodynamic force levels acting on perfused microspheres and cells in flow fields through microfluidic devices used for cell adhesion dynamics analysis.