Description: When plaque accumulates inside an artery, the resulting narrowing alters blood flow behavior and, importantly, raises the pressure the blood must overcome to pass through the constricted region. This pressure response is a key diagnostic indicator in cardiovascular disease, and CFD provides a non-invasive way to study it in detail. This project uses ANSYS Fluent to simulate blood flow through a clogged artery and examine how the blockage drives pressure changes along the vessel.Methodology: The geometry is a three-dimensional cylindrical vessel 0.18 m long and 0.004 m in diameter, featuring a curved constriction at its center. The narrowing is defined through a Gaussian function describing how the vessel radius contracts along its length, representing a 90% occlusion with a specified slope through the blocked segment; the geometry is built in ANSYS DesignModeler by importing coordinate points and revolving the resulting profile around the central axis. Blood is modeled with a density of 1035 kg/m³ and a viscosity of 0.0043 Pa·s, entering at a mass flow rate of 0.013662 kg/s, and the domain is meshed in ANSYS Meshing using a structured grid of roughly 431,000 elements. The simulation uses a pressure-based, steady-state solver with laminar flow assumptions and gravity neglected; a mass-flow inlet, a zero-gauge-pressure outlet, and a stationary no-slip wall complete the boundary conditions.Analysis: The results are examined through 2-D and 3-D contours of pressure, velocity, and pressure gradient, alongside a plot of static pressure along the dimensionless vessel length. The data show that the most significant pressure drop occurs precisely where the blood is forced through the clogged region, confirming the direct link between occlusion severity and elevated flow resistance. Working through this project builds skill in constructing parametric, function-defined biological geometries, setting up laminar internal-flow cases in ANSYS Fluent, and interpreting pressure and velocity fields to quantify how an arterial blockage affects blood flow.

Description: This study uses ANSYS Fluent to simulate blood flow through an occluded, bifurcated artery, examining how varying degrees of stenosis at the vessel's center affect flow behavior. Blood is modeled with a density of 1060 kg/m³ and dynamic viscosity of 0.35 kg/m·s, entering through two inlet branches at a combined mass flow rate of 0.002385 kg/s, with vessel walls treated as rigid.Methodology: The stenotic geometry is generated from a parametric curve defined by y = 0.0002475cos(πx/0.001), which produces the coordinate points forming the narrowed profile; a 30% stenosis, for example, corresponds to a constricted diameter equal to 70% of the normal vessel diameter. The geometry is built in ANSYS DesignModeler and meshed in ANSYS Meshing with a structured grid of 85,222 elements. To capture how flow behavior changes with blockage severity, the stenosis is systematically varied across seven cases spanning 30% to 90% occlusion, each solved under matching inlet and boundary conditions.Analysis: Post-processing includes 2D pressure and velocity distributions, along with pathline and vector visualizations. Velocity contours peak at the stenotic throat where the cross-sectional area is smallest, while pressure drops downstream of the constriction to levels below those at the inlet branches. Comparing pressure, velocity, and pressure differential across the seven stenosis cases shows that greater occlusion consistently produces larger pressure losses and higher velocities through the narrowed zone, directly reflecting the increased flow obstruction as blockage severity rises.

Description: This project simulates time-dependent pulsatile blood flow through a simplified arterial bifurcation using ANSYS Fluent, aiming to capture how the rhythmic nature of the cardiac cycle affects pressure and shear stress at the branching point, and to draw out clinically relevant insights into where arterial pathology is most likely to develop.Methodology: The fluid domain is built in Design Modeler and discretized in ANSYS Meshing with an unstructured grid of 168,367 elements. Blood enters at a mass flow rate of 0.001570178 kg/s, splitting to 0.00078576 kg/s at each outlet, with an inlet pressure of 250 Pa (about 1.87515 mmHg) — well below the 80-120 mmHg typical of major human arteries, reflecting the simplified nature of the model. The pulsatile character of the flow is introduced through a User-Defined Function that varies inlet velocity sinusoidally over time to mimic the cardiac cycle, and the case is solved with a transient solver, with key results reported at t = 0.162 s, corresponding to peak systolic velocity.Analysis: Pressure contours at t = 0.16 s show a concentration of stress at the bifurcation apex where the flow streams diverge, with local pressure reaching roughly 125 Pa — about half the inlet value — marking this location as a potential site of arterial wall rupture risk. Wall shear stress distributions further show that this same apex region experiences the lowest shear stress values in the domain, which, consistent with established medical literature linking low WSS to stenosis development, flags the bifurcation apex as particularly susceptible to atherosclerotic plaque buildup and progressive arterial narrowing.

Description: This project simulates the operation of an asthma inhaler spray using ANSYS Fluent, targeting the mechanics of drug delivery for patients experiencing shortness of breath. Since inhalers deliver medication directly into the airways rather than through systemic absorption, they offer an advantage in reduced side effects compared to oral or injectable treatments, and CFD provides a way to visualize exactly how the spray disperses upon release.Methodology: The geometry, built in Design Modeler, includes the inhaler device with an internal orifice where the drug is injected, along with a surrounding computational zone representing the space into which the spray disperses; the domain is meshed in ANSYS Meshing with an unstructured grid of 752,277 cells. Because the goal is to track individual drug particles rather than treat the spray as a continuous phase, the simulation uses a Lagrangian approach through the Discrete Phase Model, with a surface-type injection releasing inert particles over an unsteady 0.1-second interval.Analysis: Particle tracking is examined across several time steps, supported by an animation of the injection sequence, showing how the medication disperses from the device over time. The results confirm that the spray is delivered effectively into the surrounding domain and validate that the injection setup and solution were configured correctly.

Description: This project simulates the delivery of asthma spray into the human lungs using ANSYS Fluent, extending inhaler modeling beyond the device itself to examine how the released aerosol travels and deposits within a realistic lung airway structure.Methodology: The 3D lung geometry, built in SpaceClaim, features a 50 cm inlet diameter and is meshed in ANSYS Meshing with 3,734,238 elements. Given the time-dependent nature of inhalation and particle transport, a transient solver is used, with air entering at 5 m/s and gravity set to −9.81 m/s² along the z-axis. A one-way coupled Discrete Phase Model tracks 100 µm aerosol particles introduced through a surface-velocity injection at the inlet, while turbulence in the airflow is resolved using the realizable k–ε model.Analysis: Post-processing includes 2D and 3D contours of velocity and pressure, along with an animation of particle tracks moving through the lung domain. These results illustrate how the spray distributes across the airway structure following inhalation, offering insight into particle transport and deposition behavior within the lungs.

Description: This project uses ANSYS Fluent to examine how virus-laden droplets expelled during speech can travel across sub-social-distance separations, assessing transmission risk when two people converse in close proximity without masks.Methodology: The scenario models an infected speaker's exhaled particles traveling toward a second person within a 3D indoor volume measuring 1.6 m × 2 m × 2.6 m, built in DesignModeler with the two individuals positioned 0.8 m apart facing each other and the infected person's mouth acting as the particle source. The domain is meshed in ANSYS Meshing with 724,076 elements, and since droplet dispersion evolves over time, a transient solver with a 0.001 s time step is used. The Discrete Phase Model tracks inert particles of 1×10⁻⁶ m diameter released at 310 K from the mouth surface between 0 and 20 seconds, driven by a custom sinusoidal velocity profile peaking at 0.33 m/s with mass flow rate scaled proportionally; turbulence is captured with the RNG k–ε model, and the energy equation is solved to account for temperature effects.Analysis: Particle tracks are reviewed at multiple time steps, reported by residence time and instantaneous velocity, showing that particles are actively emitted during the first 20 seconds while the following 20 seconds involve only the continued drift of previously released particles across the gap. The results indicate that just 20 seconds of unmasked conversation can allow droplets to reach the other person by roughly 40 seconds, highlighting a realistic exposure risk during ordinary close-range talking.

DescriptionThis project simulates the dispersion of human cough virus particles inside a coffee shop using ANSYS Fluent, investigated through CFD analysis. Studying how respiratory droplets travel through an indoor space is a core biomedical and public-health concern, since it informs how airborne infections spread in crowded environments and how such spaces might be made safer.The model was built in 3D using Design Modeler, with the computational domain representing the interior of a coffee shop. Meshing was performed in ANSYS Meshing using an unstructured grid, with the curvature method applied to refine the mesh in grid-sensitive regions; the total cell count is 4,578,388. Because of the time-dependent nature of the problem, a transient solver was used.MethodologyHere, ANSYS Fluent simulates the human cough virus particles using a two-way coupled Discrete Phase Model (DPM), in which the particles and the surrounding air influence one another. Following this injection definition, the virus particles are physically expelled from the patient's mouth as water droplets that evaporate in the surrounding air.These droplets have a temperature of 310 K, a velocity of 31.85 m/s, and a mass flow rate of 0.018 kg/s, released over the interval from 0 s to 0.1 s. The droplet diameter is not constant during propagation; instead, the Rosin-Rammler logarithmic distribution is used to characterize the range of droplet sizes. Through this method and its associated formulation, the minimum, maximum, and average diameters, the spread (exponential) parameter, and the number of diameter classes per injection are all defined. The droplet (drop) mode is applied together with the activated Species Transport model, allowing the evaporation of the droplets to be captured.The discrete-phase boundary conditions are defined as follows: the patient's mouth is set to Escape, meaning particles pass through this boundary; the surfaces of people's bodies and all the table and chair walls use the wall-film mode; and the floor uses the Trap mode, so that particles reaching it are captured and accumulate there. The simulation is unsteady, run over a 3 s interval with a time step of 0.01 s. The RNG k-epsilon model, together with the energy equation, was enabled to resolve the turbulent flow and compute the temperature distribution throughout the domain.AnalysisOn completion of the solution, the virus particle tracking at the final second of the simulation was obtained, based on the residence time of the particles. An animation of the virus dispersion and its gradual disappearance over time was also exported, showing how the droplets spread through the coffee shop and where they ultimately settle — offering insight into airborne transmission risk and the distribution of contamination across surfaces within an indoor public space.

Description: Face shields have become a widely adopted protective measure in situations where maintaining full social distance isn't practical, but their actual effectiveness at blocking respiratory droplets during ordinary conversation is not always intuitive from visual inspection alone. This study uses computational fluid dynamics to examine that question directly, simulating how virus-laden particles expelled during speech behave when a face shield is present, and whether it successfully intercepts those particles before they can reach another person nearby. The scenario is deliberately set at a distance closer than standard social-distancing guidelines recommend, representing a realistic close-proximity interaction such as a conversation at a counter or a brief face-to-face exchange, in order to test the shield's protective capability under a challenging rather than ideal scenario.Methodology: The 3D domain (1.6 m × 2 m × 2.6 m), built in Design Modeler, represents two individuals facing each other at 80 cm, with one designated as infected and their mouth acting as the source of viral particles during speech. The domain is meshed in ANSYS Meshing with 724,076 elements, and given the time-dependent nature of particle dispersion, a transient solver is used with a 0.001 s time step. The Discrete Phase Model tracks inert particles of 1 µm diameter released at body temperature (310 K) from the mouth over 0-20 seconds, driven by a sinusoidal velocity profile peaking at 0.33 m/s with flow rate scaled proportionally; an escape condition is set at the mouth to allow emission, while a trap condition on the shield surface captures incoming particles, and the RNG k-epsilon turbulence model is used alongside the energy equation to resolve flow and temperature behavior.Analysis: Particle tracking visualizations across the 20-second simulation, colored by residence time and velocity, show particles accumulating on the shield's inner surface rather than reaching the second individual, confirming that the shield effectively intercepts droplets expelled during speech. These results support the shield's role as a protective barrier in close-proximity interactions where maintaining full social distance isn't practical.

DescriptionThis project simulates the airborne transmission of coronavirus particles among airplane passengers via breathing, using ANSYS Fluent, in response to the well-documented risk that close passenger spacing on aircraft poses for disease spread. The computational domain represents an airplane cabin with rows of seats, one passenger modeled per seat, and each passenger's mouth defined as a surface source for exhaled breath and virus-laden droplets. Since maintaining physical distance is difficult in a cabin, the goal is to characterize how far and how effectively breath-borne virus particles travel between nearby passengers under the aircraft's actual ventilation conditions. The geometry is built in 3D in SpaceClaim and meshed in ANSYS Meshing with an unstructured grid of 1,316,384 elements.MethodologyVirus-laden droplets are modeled with a density of 1000 kg/m³, specific heat of 1680 J/kg·K, viscosity of 0.000172 kg/m·s, and surface tension of 0.03 N/m, released from each passenger's mouth during breathing. Since the goal is tracking a discrete population of droplets moving through the continuous cabin airflow, the Discrete Phase Model (DPM) is used, with the particles defined as inert and injected as a surface injection through each passenger's mouth inlet, at a diameter of 0.000001 m, temperature of 308 K, velocity of 0.05 m/s, and flow rate of 0.0000221 kg/s. The cabin's ventilation is represented in detail: fresh air enters from ceiling vents at 2.36 m/s and 292.65 K, from side vents at 0.3 m/s and 292.65 K, and from under-seat vents at 0.59 m/s and 292.65 K, while spent air exits through two lower-side outlets held at atmospheric pressure.AnalysisThe solution yields particle tracking based on residence time, along with 3D temperature and velocity contours throughout the cabin. These results show the virus-laden particles leaving the mouth and being picked up by the surrounding ventilation flow, tracing how the cabin's air circulation pattern carries exhaled droplets toward or away from neighboring passengers. This confirms the model captures its intended purpose: showing how the interaction between passenger breathing and the aircraft's specific airflow pattern governs the pathway and residence time of virus-carrying particles in an enclosed cabin environment.

DescriptionThis project uses ANSYS Fluent to simulate a microfluidic droplet generator, applying the Volume of Fluid (VOF) multiphase model to a core biomedical engineering problem. Microfluidic droplet generators are widely used in biomedical and bioengineering research to isolate biological entities and create controlled microenvironments for in-vitro analysis. The simulation models the interaction between two immiscible phases (water and oil, or their biological equivalents) as droplets form within a microchannel.MethodologyThe 3D device geometry is built in DesignModeler and meshed in ANSYS Meshing using an unstructured grid, refined locally to resolve droplet interface behavior accurately. The VOF model is configured to capture surface tension effects and wall adhesion, both critical to realistic droplet formation, with a patching approach used to improve computational efficiency. Droplet characteristics are controlled by varying inlet velocities of each phase, surface tension parameters, and channel geometry.ConclusionResults characterize droplet formation and breakup behavior under the given flow and geometric conditions, providing a basis for validating against experimental data. The findings translate directly to biomedical device design — informing how channel geometry and fluid properties (e.g., PBS, blood) affect droplet generation for applications such as biological entity separation and diagnostic sample analysis.