Modeling of Hydrogel Rheology in Applications for Lung Mucus

School Name

Governor's School for Science & Mathematics

Grade Level

12th Grade

Presentation Topic

Physiology and Health

Presentation Type

Mentored

Mentor

Mentor: Paula Vasquez, University of South Carolina

Abstract

Lung mucus plays an important role in the human body by ridding it of foreign particles. Under different conditions it exhibits unusual properties that are poorly understood. Modeling lung mucus will provide researchers with a better understanding of its rheological properties and provide insight into how to treat mucus related illnesses such as cystic fibrosis. Utilizing high powered computers to simulate small amplitude oscillatory shear flow we are able to examine the rheological behavior of lung mucus. In order to ensure that the data produced by our simulation contains little error and could be run in a timely manner, we tested different values for the number of cycles and sample points per cycle. In this analysis, noise was added to a sinusoidal wave to mimic the simulated small oscillatory shear output. Through this process, we found an optimal value for the points per cycle and number of cycles. These values will then be used in our simulation to ensure reliable and efficient production of data.

Location

Wall 318

Start Date

3-25-2017 11:15 AM

Presentation Format

Oral and Written

Group Project

No

COinS
 
Mar 25th, 11:15 AM

Modeling of Hydrogel Rheology in Applications for Lung Mucus

Wall 318

Lung mucus plays an important role in the human body by ridding it of foreign particles. Under different conditions it exhibits unusual properties that are poorly understood. Modeling lung mucus will provide researchers with a better understanding of its rheological properties and provide insight into how to treat mucus related illnesses such as cystic fibrosis. Utilizing high powered computers to simulate small amplitude oscillatory shear flow we are able to examine the rheological behavior of lung mucus. In order to ensure that the data produced by our simulation contains little error and could be run in a timely manner, we tested different values for the number of cycles and sample points per cycle. In this analysis, noise was added to a sinusoidal wave to mimic the simulated small oscillatory shear output. Through this process, we found an optimal value for the points per cycle and number of cycles. These values will then be used in our simulation to ensure reliable and efficient production of data.