Fluid and Deformable-Structure Interactions in

Bio-Mechanical Systems and Micro-Air Vehicles

Lucy Zhang

Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and
Nuclear Engineering
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY
biomaterial
Multiscale bio-mechanical
systems
platelet
protein
red blood cell
vessel
heart
Fluid-structure interactions at
all scales
Numerical methods for fluid-structure interactions
Commercial softwares (ABAQUS, ANSYS, FLUENT)
Explicit coupling technique - generate numerical instabilities
(oscillations), diverged solutions

Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE)
limited to small mesh deformations
requires frequent re-meshing or mesh update
QuickTime and a
YUV420 codec decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Goals:
accurate (interpolations at the fluid-structure interface)
efficient (less/no mesh updating required)
flexible (deformable and rigid structures, boundary conditions)
extensibility (multi-phase flows, various applications)
Immersed Boundary Method (Peskin) - flexible solid immersed in fluid
structures are modeled with elastic fibers
finite different fluid solver with uniform grid
Immersed finite element method (IFEM):
Fluid-deformable structure interaction
t=0
Assumptions:

No-slip boundary condition at the fluid-solid interface
Solid is completely immersed in the fluid
Fluid is everywhere in the domain
solid
t = t1
solid
Equations of motion
ext
,
d
d
i j ij
i
f
t
v
+ =o
Principle of virtual work:
0
d
d
ext
,
=
|
.
|

\
|

}
O
i j ij
i
i
f
t
v
v o o
1 2
3
s
s
i
s
i
s
i
f
i
i
f
i
d
t
v
v d
t
v
v d
t
v
v
s s
O O O
O O O
d
d
d
d
d
d
o o o
} } }
+ 1
s s
j ij i
s
f
j ij i
f
j ij i s s
d v d v d v O O O
O O O
} } }
+
, , ,
o o o o o o
2
s
i
s
i
s
i
f
i i
f
i
d g v d g v d g v
s s
O O O
O O O
o o o
} } }
+
3
O
O
s

O
IFEM continued

f
i
FSI ,s
=
f

s
( )
dv
i
s
dt
+o
ij , j
s
o
ij , j
f
+
s

f
( )
g
i
Solid:
in O
s

f
(
cv
i
ct
+ v
j
v
i, j
) =o
ij , j
f
+ f
i
FSI
(x, t)
v
i,i
= 0
fluid: in O
Overlapping
O
s
Interpolations at the interface
}
=
O
O d ) ( ) , ( ) , (
s FSI, FSI s s
t t x x X f x f o

v
s
(X
s
,t) = v(x,t)o(x x
s
)dO
O
}
Force distribution
Velocity interpolation
solid node
Influence domain
Surrounding fluid nodes
Uniform spacing
Read solid & fluid
Geometries
Apply initial conditions
Distribute F onto the fluid
F
FSI,s
-> F
FSI
Update solids positions
d
solid
=V
solid
*dt
Interpolate v
fluid
onto solids V
solid

v
fluid
->V
solid

Fluid analysis (N-S)
Solve for v
fluid

Structure analysis
Solve for F
FSI,s

IFEM Algorithm
Validations
Flow past a cylinder
Soft disk falling in a channel
Leaflet driven by fluid flow
3 rigid spheres dropping in a channel
Particle (elastic):
Density= 3,000 kg/m
3
Young modulus: E = 1,000 N/m
2
Poisson ratio: 0.3
Gravity: 9.81 m/s
2
Particle mesh: 447 Nodes and 414 Elements

Fluid:

Tube diameter, D = 4d =2 cm

Tube height, H = 10 cm

Particle diameter, d = 0.5 cm
Density= 1,000 kg/m
3

Fluid viscosity = 0.1 N/s.m
2

Fluid initially at rest
Fluid mesh: 2121 Nodes and 2000 Elements
A soft disk falling in a viscous fluid
Fluid recirculation around the soft disk
QuickTime and a
Cinepak decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Pressure distribution
QuickTime and a
Cinepak decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
yy
o
xy
o
t = 0.0 s

t = 1.1 s

t = 2.2 s

t = 3.3 s

t = 4.35 s
xx
o
Stress distribution on the soft disk
Comparison between the soft sphere and the analytical solution of a same-sized rigid sphere
Terminal velocity of the soft disk

u
t
=

s

( )
gr
2
4
ln
L
r
|
\

|
.
|
0.9157+1.7244
r
L
|
\

|
.
|
2
1.7302
r
L
|
\

|
.
|
4
|
\


|
.
|
|
3 rigid spheres dropping in a tube
QuickTime and a
Microsoft Video 1 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
3 rigid spheres dropping in a tube
Why is it unique?
fluid- deformable structure interactions
two-way coupling, higher order interpolation function
Limitations?
time step constraint
rigid solid case
Possible expansions?
compressible system
multiphase flow
Usefulness?
numerous applications!
Use numerical methods to understand and
study cardiovascular diseases.

Find non-invasive means to predict physical
behaviors and seek remedies for diseases
Simulate the responses of blood flow (pressure
and velocities) under different physiologic conditions.
Compare our results (qualitatively) with published
clinical data and analyze the results.
Biomechanical applications
Red Blood Cell aggregation
Heart modeling - left atrium
Deployment of angioplasty stent
Venous valves
Large deformation (flexible)
Why heart?
Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes
of death in the western world.


Cardiovascular diseases (CVD)
accounted for 38.0 percent of all
deaths or 1 of every 2.6 deaths in the
United States in 2002. It accounts for
nearly 25% of the deaths in the word.
In 2005 the estimated direct
and indirect cost of CVD is
$393.5 billion.
Cardiovascular system
D: The oxygen-poor blood
(blue) from the superior vena
cava and inferior vena cava
fills the right atrium.
E: The oxygen-poor blood in
the right atrium fills the right
ventricle via tricuspid valve.
F: The right ventricle
contracts and sends the
oxygen-poor blood via
pulmonary valve and
pulmonary artery to the
pulmonary circulation.
A: The oxygen-rich blood
(red) from the pulmonary
vein fills the left atrium.
B: The oxygen-rich blood
in the left atrium fills the
left ventricle via the mitra
valve.
C: The left ventricle
contracts and sends the
oxygen-rich blood via
aortic valve and aorta to
the systemic circulation.

A
F
D
E
C
B
During Atrial Fibrillation (a particular form of an irregular or abnormal
heartbeat):

The left atrium does not contract effectively and is not able to empty
efficiently.

Sluggish blood flow may come inside the atrium.

Blood clots may form inside the atrium.

Blood clots may break up

Result in embolism.
Result in stroke.
Atrial fibrillation and blood flow
Without blood
clots

with a blood
clot
Left atrial appendage
From Schwartzman D., Lacomis J., and
Wigginton W.G., Characterization of left atrium
and distal pulmonary vein morphology using
multidimensional computed tomography. Journal
of the American College of Cardiology, 2003.
41(8): p. 1349-1357
Ernst G., et al., Morphology of the
left atrial appendage. The
Anatomical Record, 1995. 242: p.
553-561.
Left atrium
Left atrial appendage
Pulmonary veins
Left atrium geometry
77mm
28mm
20mm
17mm
56mm
During diastole (relaxes, 0.06s < t < 0.43s) , no flow
through the mitral valve (v=0)
During systole (contracts, 0.43s < t < 1.06s), blood
flow is allowed through the mitral valve (free flow)
Blood is assumed to be Newtonian fluid, homogenous and incompressible.
Maximum inlet velocity: 45 cm/s
Blood density: 1055 kg/m
3
Blood viscosity: 3.5X10
-3
N/s.m
2
Fluid mesh: 28,212Nodes, 163,662 Elements
Solid mesh: 12,292 Nodes, 36,427 Elements
Left atrium with pulmonary veins
Klein AL and Tajik AJ. Doppler
assessment of pulmonary venous flow
in healthy subjects and in patients with
heart disease. Journal of the American
Society of Echocardiography, 1991,
Vol.4, pp.379-392.
QuickTime and a
Motion JPEG OpenDML decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Pressure distribution at the center of the atrium during a diastole and systole cycle
Transmitral velocity during diastole
Left atrium with appendage
Rigid wall
QuickTime and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Pressure
distribution at the
center of the
atrium during
one cardiac cycle
Transmitral
velocity during
one cardiac
cycle
Kuecherer H.F., Muhiudeen I.A., Kusumoto F.M., Lee E.,
Moulinier L.E., Cahalan M.K. and Schiller N.B., Estimation of
mean left atrial pressure from transesophageal pulsed Doppler
echocardiography of pulmonary venous flow
Circulation, 1990, Vol 82, 1127-1139
E
A
Left atrium (comparison with clinical data)
5
Pressure
(mm hg)
2 Time
(s)
1.5 1
0
Transmitral velocity during one cardiac
cycle (with and without the appendage)
Velocity inside the appendage during
one cardiac cycle
Influence of the appendage
Left atrium geometry
Courtesy of Dr. A. CRISTOFORETTI,
ale@science.unitn.it
University of Trento, Italia

G. Nollo, A. Cristoforetti, L. Faes, A. Centonze, M. Del Greco, R. Antolini, F. Ravelli: 'Registration and Fusion of
Segmented Left Atrium CT Images with CARTO Electrical Maps for the Ablative Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation', Computers
in Cardiology 2004, volume 31, 345-348;

Pulmonary
veins
Pulmonary
veins
Left atrium
Left atrial
appendage
Pulmonary
veins
Pulmonary
veins
Mitral
valve
Left
atrium
Blood clots
Red blood cells and blood
RBC FEM RBC model
From Dennis Kunkel at
http://www.denniskunkel.com/
10m
2m
Property of membrane
Thickness of RBC membrane: 7.5 to 10 nm
Density of blood in 45% of hematocrit: 1.07 g/ml
Dilation modulus: 500 dyn/cm
Shear modulus for RBC membrane: 4.2*10
-3
dyn/cm
Bending modulus: 1.8*10
-12
dyn/cm.
Property of inner cytoplasm
Incompressible Newtonian fluid
empirical function
The shear rate dependence of normal human blood viscoelasticity at 2 Hz and 22 C (reproduced from
http://www.vilastic.com/tech10.html)
Bulk aggregates Discrete cells Cell layers
Red blood cells and blood
Shear of a RBCs Aggregate
The shear of 4 RBCs at
low shear rate


The RBCs rotates as a
bulk
The shear of 4 RBCs at
high shear rate

The RBCs are totally
separated and arranged
at parallel layers
The shear of 4 RBCs at
medium shear rate

The RBCs are partially
separated
RBC-RBC protein dynamic force is coupled with IFEM (NS Solver)
C-C
f
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H.264 decompressor
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QuickTime and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime and a
H.264 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Micro-air vehicles
QuickTime and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
http://www.fas.org/irp/program/collect/docs/image1.gif
three types of MAVs:
1. airplane-like fixed wing model,
2. helicopter-like rotating wing model,
3. bird-or insect-like flapping wing model.
potential military
and surveillance
use
G
r
o
s
s

W
e
i
g
h
t

(
L
b
s
)

MAVs
Features:
improved efficiency,
more lift,
high maneuverability,
reduced noise.
Loitering wings: high span and a large surface area
Fast wings: a low wing span and a small area
Flying efficiently at high speed: small, perhaps, swept wings
Flying at slow speed for long periods: long narrow wings
Bio-inspired flapping wings
muscle contraction
Acknowledgement
Graduate students:
Mickael Gay, Yili Gu

Collaborators:
Dr. Holger Salazar (Cardiology Department,
Tulane University)
Dr. A. Cristoforetti (University of Trento, Italy)

Funding agencies: NSF, NIH, Louisiana BOR

Computing resources:
Center for Computational Sciences (CCS) -
Tulane
SCOREC (RPI)

What can you do?
IFEM: Governing Equations

s
c
2
u
s
ct
2
|
\

|
.
|
V o
s
= f
sur
+
s
g on O
s
f = f
sur
(X)o(x X)dV
O
s
}

f
cv
ct
+ v Vv
|
\

|
.
|
= V ? + f on O
V v = 0
dX/dt = v(x)o(x X)dV
O
}
Navier-Stokes equation for incompressible fluid
Governing equation of structure
Force distribution
Velocity interpolation
O
s
O
IFEM: Solid Force Calculation
ext sur int
f f f Ma + = +
g f ) (
ext
=
s
Vol
External Forces: External forces can be arbitrary forces from diverse force fields (e.g. gravity,
buoyancy force, electro-magnetic fields).
g acceleration due to gravity
V S
s
I
pq
pq I
d
int
}
O
c
c
=
X
f
c
I nternal Forces: hyperelastic material description (Mooney-Rivlin material).
S 2
nd
Piola Kirchhoff stress tensor
- Green Lagrangian strain tensor
Total Lagrangian Formulation

cv
ct
+ v Vv = V o
f
+ f
FSI
V v = 0
Solve for velocity using the
Navier-Stokes equation Eq. (III)
The interaction force f
FSI,s
is distributed to the fluid
domain via RKPM delta function.
The fluid velocity is interpolated onto the solid
domain via RKPM delta function
O
s
O
}
O
O = d ) ( ) , ( ) , (
s s s
t t x x x v X v |
}
O
O = d ) ( ) , ( ) , (
s FSI, FSI s s
t t x x X f x f |

A
cv
s
ct
+ (
co
s
cx

co
f
cx
) + Ag
s
O
in
O
in
) , (
FSI
t x f
) , (
s FSI,
t
s
X f
t t
s s
c
c

c
c v u
2
2
The interaction force is
calculated with Eq. (I)
s FSI,
f
I.
IV.
III.
II.
) , ( t x v
P and v unknowns are solved
by minimizing residual
vectors (derived from their
weak forms)
Distribution of
interaction force
Insert this inhomogeneous fluid
force field into the N-S eqn.
Update solid
displacement with
solid velocity
IFEM Governing Equations
=
s FSI,
f
Red blood cell model
RBC
From Dennis Kunkel at
http://www.denniskunkel.com/
2m
Shear rate dependence of normal human blood
viscoelasticity at 2 Hz and 22 C (reproduced from
http://www.vilastic.com/tech10.html)
Bulk aggregates Discrete cells Cell layers
Venous Valve
Courtesy of H.F. Janssen, Texas Tech University.
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Microsoft Video 1 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTime and a
BMP decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Site of deep venous thrombosis formation
Prevents retrograde venous flow (reflux)
Site of sluggish blood flow
Decreased fibrinolytic activity
Muscle contraction prevents venous stasis:
Increases venous flow velocity
Compresses veins
Immobilization promotes venous stasis
Venous Valve Simulation
QuickTime and a
Microsoft Video 1 decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Venous Valve
Comparison between experiment and simulation at 4 different time steps
Multi-resolution analysis
|
|
.
|

\
|
A

A
=
j
j
j
j a
x a
x x
x a
x x | |
1
) (
Window function with a dilation parameter:

=
A u = =
NNP
j
j j a j a
Ra
x x x x x u x u P x u
1
) ; ( ) ( ) ( ) (
Projection operator for the scale a
a: dilation parameter
Wavelet function:
) ; ( ) ; ( ) ; (
2 2 j a j a j a
x x x x x x x x x u u =
Complementary projection operator:

=
A =
NNP
j
j j a j a
x x x x x u x u Q
1
2 2
) ; ( ) ( ) (
) ( ) ( ) (
2 2
x u Q x u P x u P
a a a
+ =
low scale + high scale