Publication

Abstract : The pulmonary system in the human body plays a major role in respiration of air into lungs by inhalation and exhalation which helps in exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in human lungs. The airflow through the respiratory system, starting from oral cavity to alveoli, undergoes significant changes in its behaviour and its thermophysical properties. A deep understanding is required to clearly predict the flow behaviour of air through respiratory passage. This understanding helps us to diagnose or to prevent some of the pulmonary diseases or disorders like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), etc. In this present study, a numerical study is carried out on a small part of respiratory airway bifurcation. The study is carried out in open-source CFD package OpenFOAM-5 using SimpleFOAM solver. And the results are obtained for the velocity profiles of the air inside respiratory airway for different mass flow rates of air 12, 30, 60 lit/min corresponding to rest, normal activity and exercise breathing conditions.